Forever Young
by GirlxMarauder
Summary: After a Death Eater attack in Diagon Alley, Hermione is pushed back to the Era of the Marauders with Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood. The only problem? The future is completely erased, and Hermione discovers her true identity. Will they survive in their quest to save all the ones they lost? And will they manage to fall in love again? HG/SB, GW/RL, LL/SS, LE/JP. Chapter 1 rewritten
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: ****I don't own Harry Potter, everything belongs to J.K. Rowling. :( Even in fifty years... *sighs* I'll most likely add some of my own characters later.**

**It's my first time writing a fanfic and I'm really excited. So this is going to be a time-travel fic, and I'm going try to make it as original as possible! There will be particular scenes with the Founders of Hogwarts, intense dueling and a descriptive storyline. Enjoy!**

**By the way, this chapter has been rewritten**

"**Gonna make a heart-throb out of me, just a bit of minor surgery, these desperate times call for desperate measures." (Desperate Measures, Marianas Trench.)**

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**Chapter 1**

Falling is horrible. It is simply terrifying. You can fall from the highest peak to the lowest bottom and that is simply mortifying, especially since you don't know where you'll end up. But if, for some reason, you're in the course of your fall and you spread your wings, it feels simply breathtaking. And she was flying. She was soaring. It was such a wonderful feeling. She didn't understand why the thrill of it frightened her so much when she was a little girl.

"Probably because you were an ignorant little know-it-all and couldn't find any information about it in any books." She thought to herself with a laugh, remembering her first year flying lessons. At the end of the war, after watching Harry and her friends play, she looked beyond its simple concept and into the real feel and beauty of it. Everything had two sides, and after long years of despising it, she finally found a common language. They were both free.

But her parents were dead. After she sent them off to Australia, disguised as travelling dentists, the Death Eaters, not fooled by the charm, and equipped with dark spells and magic, located the two clueless muggles in Australia, wiping the final evidence of Mr. and Mrs. Granger off the face of earth. When Hermione finally arrived to Australia to lift the charm, she was informed that they suffered a tragic death. _'Heart attacks'_ or so they were called.

The gruesome part of the wizarding world was now over, and Hermione was free. She grew up at eleven years old and hadn't ever experienced a proper childhood or a teenage life, and she regretted that. Now that the war was over, everything changed – there was no more kind and warm Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks. They were the most caring two people, who suffered from a horrid fate, leaving their only child, Teddy, alone.

The cliché of 'twins' was impossible. No one completed each other's sentences, or pulled off cheesy jokes. With one part of the machine missing, the other couldn't function. So the cheerful and friendly exploding sounds coming from the twins' rooms didn't exist and were unheard of. A piece of the machine was gone – the rest couldn't function. George existed, but he didn't live. He didn't laugh as much anymore, didn't sleep in his room. A couple times, Hermione came across him sleeping on the couch when she spent her days in the Burrow. Now there wasn't really a point of a joke shop anymore, after the cruel and defeating joke pulled on them.

Sirius Black, the mischievous and flirty marauder and lady's man was gone as well. The grim was defeated. He was Harry's only true relative, who treated them with the kindness and responsibility only a true father would. Hermione realized that after spending twelve years in Azkaban, he grew up out of the immature young man he probably way into a immature but wise old man. She always grinned when she tried to imagine Sirius back in the old days, and she would've paid with anything to see that day. He was only free for a few years before his wretched cousin took his life.

Being the most rude and emotionless professor known in Hogwarts, who was truly only tolerated by his bubbling potions and dusty books, she even missed Snape, with his long classes in the dungeon, and his monotonous drawling voice. Every so often, she had to remind herself of his bravery and his full story behind the hatred he showed.

She even missed Dumbledore, though he was one of the reasons why the whole war started. She was frustrated with him most of the time. He loved Harry, yet he gave them no clues for the horcrux hunt. All the events would've passed much quicker if he conveyed all the information he had to those who needed to complete the quest. Even then, Hermione missed his wise and crazy remarks and strange obsession with muggle treats.

Sometimes, Hermione stayed up at night, just thinking what would happen if there was no war. It was simply unimaginable and unrealistic. If there was no war, Teddy wouldn't be an orphan, Harry would have parents, as well as his beloved godfather; he wouldn't be the Chosen One, which meant he wouldn't be stampeded by paparazzi and interviewers.

At the same time, if there was no war, they wouldn't realize how some things in life can go completely wrong. She wouldn't have any friends, and she would still have a book as a best friend, searching for a perfect prince in the safe house of the library. Ron would still be stuck-up git and Harry would just be a normal student, nothing particularly special about him. Even then, she always wished that she could change everything that happened over the past eight years… But how?

"Hermione, watch out!" she heard Ginny call, when she saw a branch in front of her as she sped towards it, but at the last moment dove in a Wronski Feint-type dive, turning and grinning like a maniac, as Ginny rolled her eyes. "Show off!" she laughed, as they both sped to make a circle around the Burrow, and then landed softly, all Hermione's philosophical thoughts scattered in the wind.

"So," Ginny started, as both of them shouldered their brooms, and headed towards the Burrow. "What's up with you and Ron?" she asked, as Hermione's smile faded at the touchy topic she didn't want to approach.

"He wanted to continue, but lately, I've just been so busy and I don't think that it's the right time for a relationship. I don't have too much time on my hands, and we don't really go too well together." she sighed. "And I think that he has a thing for Lavender Brown, so I don't want to complicate anything."

Her thoughts strayed and Ginny nodded slightly in understanding and they put the topic aside.

"So how are you and Harry doing?" Hermione nudged Ginny playfully, and the redhead's face turned as red as her hair.

"It's weird though, you know?" Ginny's blush disappeared and her grin turned into a frown. "At some points, it feels so real, as if we're actually a couple. As if we don't know each other as 'the Chosen One' and 'Ron's little sister'."

"But…?"

"But right after he's so nice to me and stuff, and we're off to a blasting start, he sort of backs off, as if he's embarrassed and he just leaves me. It's happened quite a couple of times," Ginny huffed exasperatedly. "Do you know anything about it? Does Harry talk to you about it lately? Or anything? Did he ever talk girls to you?" she rambled as Hermione chuckled thoughtfully.

"Not really. Harry and I aren't as close as he and Ron are. He's like a brother to me, but he doesn't tell me such things. Don't worry. I'm sure he'll come around some time." Hermione hugged her with one hand, as they walked into the shed and dropped their brooms off.

"He bloody better!" Ginny giggled, poking Hermione's side.

"Heeeey!"Hermione laughed, poking Ginny back, as they both fell into a tickle-fest.

They were both rolling on the ground, poking and tickling each other, when they heard the door to the Burrow creak open and light footsteps echoed through the moist swampy air. The two girls raised their heads just to see a lonely redhead exiting the house and staring out into the distance with his glassy sky-blue eyes. Under any circumstances, Hermione could differentiate all the Weasleys, especially lately…

There was one tall lean Weasley with messy ginger hair who, usually strutting with true confidence and a best friend at his side, now was slumped over in insecurity. He slumped out, heading for the edge of the field, staring into the horizon.

"I feel awful for him. It's just like losing a piece of yourself," Hermione sighed getting up, pulling Ginny up with her, as both of them pulled off their dragon-hide Quidditch gloves, which they both got for Christmas from Charlie, which he mailed from Romania. "I've never had a brother or a sister. I wish I had though."

"We all feel that way. Still, it's much worse for him. It gets pretty bad at times – mom calls him Fred by accident, she bursts into tears, and he walks away and doesn't talk to anyone. He comes only late at night or early in the morning the next day." Ginny sighed, slipping her hands around Hermione's waist. "Sometimes I just watch him and I feel that he wants to be up there with Freddy. Most people want to live a long life, but I think it's the opposite for him."

"Should we go cheer him up?" Hermione grinned jokingly, an unknown artery in her heart starting to pump wildly, as Ginny looked at her in complete and utter shock.

"Hermione Granger finally wanting to do something fun? This is a miracle! I must be dreaming!" she rubbed her eyes and opened her mouth, so much Hermione was taken back by her own spontaneous offer.

"Well, Ginny, you knew I would come around sooner or later. You already got me to play Quidditch," Hermione grinned giddily. "But I promise you, I won't be doing anything extreme for a while."

"This is _so_ exciting. Next time, I'm going to get you a date and we're gonna go on a double-date to Diagon Alley. I'll find you someone," Ginny stated, crossing her arms and grinning toothily, and then the both of them burst out in laughter. "Don't you worry, 'Mione m'dear."

Hermione rolled her eyes at Ginny's immaturity and they watched George for a little while, as he picked up little stones from the ground and threw them into the greenish yellow coloured swamp. After the end of the war, the usually dying yellow swamp started to grow flowers and started to live.

"What should we do?" Hermione wondered.

"Quidditch maybe?" Ginny asked, as Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Not Quidditch. He's a beater, remember? He was a beater _together _with Fred. He won't play. Harry and Ron told me that he hasn't played since the war."

"What about Hogsmeade for a bit of shopping?"

"George? Shopping? Still, I don't think that it's the greatest idea." Hermione shrugged, remembering that Zonko's was there, as well as the legendary Three Broomsticks and Hog's Head. "What about that date we were thinking about." She wiggled her eyebrows in a joking way, but it seemed that Ginny didn't take it as a joke.

"Oh my lord! That's a _brilliant_ idea! I can't believe that I didn't think of that. You're a genius, 'Mione. Bloody genius!" Ginny flipped her hair, as her blue eyes lit up in a way in which Hermione could see her thoughts right through her.

"But Gin, I was just—'

"OI, GEORGE!" Ginny shouted, as George turned around, and Ginny ran towards him and away from Hermione.

"Oh, you wanker, Ginny." Hermione mentally slapped herself and started running after her, where Ginny was already proposing the idea to George really fast and with pure excitement.

"—come with us?" She did a puppy dog face, which George eyed curiously.

"I might…"

"Oh lighten up, Georgie, just this time. I barely got Hermione to agree, right, 'Mione?"

"Wait, what? But I—"

"RIGHT,'Mione?" Ginny gave her a 'don't-screw-this-up look', as Hermione shuddered. Sometimes Ginny could be rough.

"Uh, yeah. Um, what Gin said." She shrugged, as Ginny nodded approvingly, and George eyed the exchange curiously, with an amused twinkle in his eye.

"Well then. That's decided on," He finally grinned for the first time in ages, which made the girls smile as hope fluttered in their chests. "But you two know that you don't look ready. Maybe I should help?" he winked, waggling his eyebrows.

The girls exchanged a look with each other, Hermione a bit nervous, but Ginny rolled her eyes at it and nodded in approval. Then, George took out his wand and cast a non-verbal spell on Ginny and Hermione, and in a couple of seconds, both of them were wearing identical cocktail dresses. Ginny's was green and Hermione's was a midnight blue. Both of them also ended up wearing watching pumps.

"_Where_ exactly did you learn that?" Hermione giggled. "You need to teach the boys some of that."

"That, love, is a secret I cannot tell any." He winked mischievously, as Ginny laughed and let her wild red hair loose from her pony tail, and Hermione did the same, slipping her time-turner she forgot to take off under the fabric of the dress. After the war ended, she wore it as a good luck charm and as a reminder of everything that happened.

"Ready, ladies?"

"Always, kind sir." Both of the girls giggled, and even Ginny seemed to be enjoying herself, even though it was her brother.

"And I have a perfect place." George grinned, as he held out his hands to his sister and brother's best friend. They both took one and he apparated out.

They landed in a familiar area, which happened to be Diagon Alley. George led them around, and finally after walking for a while, they walked towards a pub, which had a sign, on which "_The Archer_".

"_The Archer?_" Ginny read out in half-disbelief, as they walked into the shabby-looking pub, and George looked offended.

"My dearest sister, don't judge a book by its cover." He grinned, as they walked in and asked for a table. Hermione nodded thoughtfully, full-heartedly agreeing with his statement, because no book or person in that case should be judged from the way they look. Hermione knew that first-hand. But the pub… Wow.

The bar was surprisingly very busy and looked pretty good inside. George _was _right. There were two levels, both which had table and chairs. On the lower level there was a large dance floor. The whole place was illuminated by multi-coloured lights, although it was slightly dim. Hermione Granger at a bar. How extreme did that sound? Hermione's first reaction was to stand and gawk at the bright lights and huge amount of people.

"How long have you know of this?" Hermione gasped, as they sat down at a table.

"Oh Hermione love, where did you think that Fr—I mean, we snuck out when we were at school. We _had _to relax at one point or another." He broke into a grin, quickly forgetting the 'almost-mention' of Fred.

"So you _snuck_ out of school? _During _the school year?" Hermione started heating up, going into ickle-prefect mode. "George Fabian Weasley! That's where you spontaneously disappeared during the year at night in your seventh year?"

"Well how did you expect us to start a shop if we didn't have a general clue where we wanted it to be. Of course we snuck out. We're pranksters, aren't we?" He rolled his eyes, as he watched Hermione fume.

"Oh brother…" Ginny sighed, putting her head on the table. But before Hermione could start a lecture and go into rant mode, she was interrupted by a thick Scottish accent.

"Blimey, Georgie is that really you?" a tall bloke came from behind Hermione and leaned over her, as the brunette shifted uncomfortably.

"Oliver, mate," George smiled happily. "How you doing?" He got up and shook his hand. "How's the career coming along? Not in reserve anymore?"

"Made it to the starting lineup." The keeper for Puddlemere United grinned proudly."This is Ginny, am I correct?"

"Yeah."Ginny smiled, sipping her firewhisky, which a pretty blond waitress just brought to their table.

"And who is this pretty bird here?" Oliver got up and stood beside Hermione, eying her carefully, as if trying to place where he had seen her before.

"Hermione. Hermione Granger." She smiled politely, as Oliver's eyes widened.

"Really? Is that really you? Gryffindor bookworm. The one who got my team on the road of success during that stormy game," He grinned, as Ginny and George rolled their eyes at the mention of 'his' team. "I didn't really pin you down as the type which goes to bars."

"I actually didn't pin myself down as that kind of person either. It just…happened," She smiled again, and Oliver nodded approvingly. "Thanks to Gin and George." She muttered, out of earshot.

"A sign that our dear Granger has grown up," He winked at her and scanned her body, which made a small blush creep up her neck. "Oh, by the way, I'm here with Katie and my friend Luke Page."

Hermione did mature over the years. Now, she had long brown hair, which fell down in splendid chocolate locks to the small of her back, warm brown eyes and had developed curves and muscles over the years of training for the war and from Quidditch.

Hermione had to admit, Oliver Wood had grown up a bit. The last time she saw him was at the Quidditch World Cup before her fourth year, which was when he just graduated Hogwarts. At that time, he was reserve keeper for Puddlemere United, and as much the world might've changed over five years, he still remained the Quidditch-aholic he was known as in school.

"Katie's here?" George's eyes widened, and before anyone could say anything, he ran off in search for her, and Oliver started a conversation with Ginny about Quidditch.

Hermione wandered around, and ran into a handsome young man with a nice build, short black hair and blue eyes, who seemed to be awkwardly waiting for Oliver. '_Screw this.'_ Hermione decided as she came up to him and started a conversation. As much of a stuck-up she was, she agreed that she _needed_ to relax once in a while.

"You're Luke, right?" she asked warmly, as he tilted his head. "Oliver's friend?"

"Yeah. Wood, who's over there with that pretty redhead. You are?" he smiled shaking her hand.

"Hermione Granger. Friend of Oliver as well. We went to school together."

"Really? Before he became the big star?" Luke grinned, putting down his drink on the table nearest to them.

"In fact, yes. I didn't know him too well, but we said a couple of words to each other. He was completely obsessed. He dragged Harry, one of my friends, and the rest of the Quidditch team out bloody early in the morning. _Everyone_ complained. He really wanted to win the Cup then." She leaned against a chair, smiling at the memory of when she woke up and Harry was slumping down the stairs for practice.

"Wanna go dance?" he asked, offering her a hand.

"Sure." She agreed and took it as they walked onto the dance floor, as the song changed to Mrs. Weasley's favourite – _A Cauldron of Hot Strong Love_ by Celestine Warbeck. It was not typical to hear that song anymore. It _was_ pretty old, but they both laughed it off and continued dancing to it.

Suddenly, they heard a thud at the door. Everyone froze. The light dimmed. Suddenly there was a shriek and someone yelled _"Bombarda!"_ which caused the whole bar to shatter, glass flying everywhere in every direction. People started running and screaming, desperately trying to save themselves. No one tried to fight back except for a few.

"Shit!" Hermione ducked and pulled Luke down with her, dodging a killing curse, which was sent their way. Both she and Luke pulled out their wands, and Hermione understood who was there. It was the remainder of the followers of Voldemort, who were still trying to stand up and regain power, but everyone knew they wouldn't go that far, so they attacked small bars and villages, trying to get more and more on their side.

"Hey, mudblood!" one of the Death Eaters yelled. "Look here, Nott, we have the filthy little mudblood, who was all over the papers. Who helped kill the Dark Lord!"

Hermione recognized them immediately and ducked as another curse was sent her way. Luke ran off to help Wood and Hermione was left all alone. It was one on two.

"Come on, Avery, let's throw this little filth where she belongs." Nott bellowed, sending another curse Hermione's way, which she swiftly blocked with _Protego._

"Is that all you got for me?" She taunted them, suddenly furious. For a moment she reminded herself of Bellatrix when she killed Sirius.

"_CRUCIO!_" Nott yelled, and Hermione dodged behind a chair, which was at one of the tables on the dance floor.

"_Petrificus Totalus!"_ she cried, not wanting to use anything dark, but with a swift motion, Avery swiped his wand. She saw a killing curse sent her way from the other direction, and she quickly jumped out of the way, tripping on a chair and landing on her back. She heard one of her legs crack, while she cried out in pain.

"_Bombarda!"_ someone yelled again, and glass, as well as pieces of wood and metal flew in every direction. In a couple of seconds, the brunette felt something hard land on her, breaking a couple of ribs. When she looked, she saw it was the pretty blond lady who gave Ginny her drink. The lady. Killed. Dead. On her. Hermione couldn't take it. The pain was unbearable. She whimpered, trying to push the lady off of her.

"HERMIONE!"She heard Ginny yell, and in a blunder of voices and flying objects, she heard Nott and Avery cast a curse at the same time, which both hit her hard in the chest. The next thing she knew, she was spinning and engulfed by darkness.

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**And this leaves us off on chapter one. Reviews are greatly appreciated! :) Feel free to give different suggestions, 'cause I will be happy to accept! If you didn't quite like it, just give it one more chapter :)**

**Thank you!**

**GirlxMarauder**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey again! Sorry for not updating for while, but my editor wasn't really available and I'm trying to find another one... Anyways, chapter two is up :)**

**I'm blond, born in Yate, England, born in 1965, and the famous author who wrote the Harry Potter series. NOT!**

**Darn it! I have bronze-ish blond hair, born in Toronto, Ontario, a teenager and love writing and reading. SO, I don't own Harry Potter at all. **

**Enjoy! :D**

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THUMP!

After what seemed like endless spinning and darkness, Hermione landed on something very light and poofy. Something, which almost seemed like… a cloud? This was definitely not happening. It was one of two – either she was dead or she was going crazy. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see lots of pinks, yellows and light blues.

Slowly getting up, she noticed she was still in the dress she was dressed in during the attack, and she was covered in some sort of golden dust, but the strangest thing was that it was completely silent. For the last while, she got used to living in a loud world, and such silence was hard to come by. Slowly, Hermione started looking around, drawing her wand as an automatic reaction.

It seemed as if she was in some sort of orchard. Around her there were many different trees some blossoming, and others bent over from the full and lush fruits growing on them. Behind the orchard was a colossal, magnificent castle. At first, she thought that it was some sort of 'Hogwarts-Heaven', but then mentally slapped herself.

"If there _was_ something like a 'Hogwarts-Heaven' it would most likely be written in _Hogwarts, a History_, but remember you read nearly every version of it and there is nothing mentioned about such a thing." She chided herself, continuing to walk towards it.

From a closer view, the castle _did_ look like Hogwarts, only more of a lustrous grand version.

She crossed the stone bridge leading to two big wooden doors. As Hermione approached them, they opened themselves, as if something or someone was almost welcoming her in. Bursting from curiosity, she walked on to reveal a long hallway with a tall ceiling. Right at the entrance, there was a big door made of bronze, decorated with Corinthian designs, which consisted of acanthus leaves, scrolls, flowers, plants and berries.

The place started to grumble and the big bronze doors opened to reveal a sumptuous hall with four thrones at the far end.

"Oh Merlin, I must be dreaming!" Hermione gasped, rubbing her eyes. She stood glued to the spot fervently shook her head, but she remained in the same place in which she stood a couple minutes ago.

Slowly pulling herself together, she inhaled deeply and started making her way down the hall towards the thrones. They were all made of pure marble, glistening in the sun. The two middle thrones were larger than the two on the sides.

The one in the middle right had an enchanted lion lying down on its side, the head ending up on the right side of the throne, the body curving around and the tail came out on the left side, so if someone sat down, you would only see the head and tail. The tail was curled around something, and when Hermione edged forward, she gasped and recognized that it was the Sword of Gryffindor, with the inscription _Godric Gryffindor_ down the side.

The lion looked around and purred contently, noticing Hermione. Its eyes locked with hers for a moment, but it continued to purr and groom itself. The back side of the throne was carried by what Hermione recognized as Doric columns, and at the top of the throne lay the Sorting Hat.

This was the throne of the founder of _her_ house and around the throne, Hermione felt more powerful, courageous and at home, remembering her adventurous school years.

The throne next to it was tall and everything was tinted green. It looked a little like the first, but the arm-rests were slender pieces of marble supported by thin curled marble, which reminded Hermione of the gates to Malfoy manor. The backrest was a half-oval shape, which something elegantly curving around the sides.

It was a snake – its tail curled around one of the armrests and its huge strong body curved around the throne until its head was on the other armrest. It head was opening and its forked tongue stuck out as it hissed at Hermione.

Both the upper sides of the arm rest and the back and bottom of the seat were covered in rich, expensive black leather.

Even standing next to it made Hermione uneasy – being a Gryffindor muggle-born wasn't too easy to manage around Slytherins, especially not around the throne of the _founder_ of Slytherin.

Shuddering, Hermione moved on to examine the rest. Next, from the left of that throne, was a yellow tinted smaller one. The two on the sides weren't as majestic nor grandeur as the middle two but both had their own interesting little twists.

This throne shone with warmth and welcome and Hermione felt as if she was just getting pulled towards it by its 'friendliness'. At the top of the throne sat an enchanted badger, similar to the lion of Gryffindor's throne. The throne itself was shaped like a big grape. Starting from the top and the stem, the actual little grapes trailed down and to the left, curving and ending at the back, forming a little spiral. At the foot of the throne there were different fruits.

"Of course there're fruits!" Hermione remembered happily. There was a chapter about Helga Hufflepuff in _Hogwarts, a History._ "Helga Hufflepuff had a gift in relation to food charms and many of her recipes were used and are still used at Hogwarts." She said out loud, proudly reciting a piece of that chapter.

But the most interesting part about Helga Hufflepuff's throne was above where the founder's head would be located. There were small golden tablets – the ones on the edges empty, while the ones in the middle full with moving pictures. Hermione edged closer, peering at the pictures trying to see what was in them… or _who_ was in them. In the middle there was tablet slightly bigger than the rest, where there was a picture of someone who Hermione recognized as…

"The Fat Friar!" she gasped, in complete surprise.

Hermione looked at the rest of the pictures, and some of the people she did not recognize, such as a woman, who was holding a quill and a book with long blond hair, **(A/N Guess who it is!? :D)** but some she did… a couple of tablets away from the Fat Friar was a picture of a beaming Professor Sprout, beside that there was someone who Hermione adored very much – Nymphadora Tonks! On the other side there was a moving photo of Zacharias Smith at a D.A. meeting, but on the right of the Fat Friar was a picture of their beloved and well-respected laughing Cedric Diggory.

Hermione sighed at the memory of him – he was very brave and courageous, but Voldemort took his life away. He deserved to be on Hufflepuff's throne.

She threw her thoughts aside and moved along to the next and last throne. The throne which made her eyes shine with joy. The throne, as she assumed, of Rowena Ravenclaw. If she got to choose, she would choose to sit on Ravenclaw's throne.

The throne itself looked simple and elegant, but if you looked closely, you would see that it was all made of marble books. The armrests, the back, the seat – everything was made up of books. On the very top of the 'pyramid' of books, sat an enchanted raven, its paw holding the pages of a open book, which it was standing on. On its small black head, there was a little shining tiara of some sort.

Hermione gasped, "_Hogwarts, a History_!" she read out. The raven was reading _Hogwarts, a History. _Somehow it was able to even turn the pages. Hermione got closer, starting to examine the books, remembering whether or not she read them, which most of them she did.

She was too busy examining the throne, and didn't pay attention to what was happening, when she heard the bronze doors slam open and four tall figures come into the hall.

Quickly moving, Hermione moved away from the thrones and closer to the middle of the hall, wand still out. As the figures got closer, Hermione examined them carefully. She was going to meet the four founders of Hogwarts.

The two women walking ahead and chatting about something were Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. It was very easy to differentiate them.

Helga Hufflepuff had an aura of kindness around her, and as she got nearer, Hermione just wanted to go up and hug her.

"Now none of that. These are the _actual _founders of Hogwarts. You can't just go up to them and do whatever." Hermione chided herself, straightening up.

Hufflepuff reminded her a little bit of Mrs. Weasley – she was plump kind lady with reddish-blond hair tucked away into an elegant braid-bun at the back of her head. She had bright blue eyes, but unlike Dumledore's, they sparkled with kindness and loyalty, when their Headmaster's shined with mystery. Helga Hufflepuff was wearing a long nineteenth-century black and yellow dress, a leather belt attached around her waist. She had dark black cape on with a badger brooch.

Rowena Ravenclaw, on the other hand, had a more of a put-together form. She was taller and skinnier than Helga, but her dark intelligent eyes pierced into Hermione's as if trying to utilize Legilimency with wandless magic, which she probably did. Her long straight black hair cascaded down to the small of her back.

Her dress was pretty similar to Helga's, but instead of black and yellow, she had blue and bronze. The skirt was poofy – the bottom layer was bronze and the top cover blue. At the top was attached to a deep midnight blue corset with bronze strings. She also wore a blue cloak with a feather brooch holding it together. Then, Hermione noticed that Ravenclaw was wearing the Diadem, which was supposed to be destroyed in the room of requirement.

They stopped talking as they came closer to Hermione, and she shuddered a little bit. Yep, she was definitely dead. As they moved apart, Hermione got a glimpse of the two men.

The first one was wearing green and silver robes with a snake brooch holding his cape, while the other was wearing red and gold robes with a ruby brooch. Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor.

Godric Gryffindor was smiling and flying across the room. His bright white teeth lit up his golden eyes and face. His carefully cut beard and shaggy light brown hair fell on his shoulders on his red and gold robes. Around him, Hermione felt safe and sound. It was as if they were distant relatives, who had not seen each other for a long time.

On the other hand, Slytherin looked tall and balding as he practically glided across the room, chin and nose up as if he was at the top of the world. His tough leather boots clicked loudly as he strutted across the room. He had piercing cold gray eyes, which could be seen on the other side of the room. His face was smothered with a cruel egoistical look, and Hermione shuddered. The king of purebloods was making his way towards her. Not Malfoy, not Lucius, not even Voldemort – Salazar Slytherin.

Only then did she realize that the two men were both holding someone. Godric Gryffindor was holding a girl in a emerald green cocktail dress, and had bright red hair, and the other was dressed in purple skinny jeans with a grey sweater. Her long wavy blond hair nearly fell to the floor and every while, Slytherin had to unwillingly throw it back up.

"GINNY! LUNA!" she screamed running up to the founders as Rowena Ravenclaw conjured two plush red couches with just a wave of her hand.

The two men put Ginny and Luna down on either couch and Hermione ran up, falling on her knees and caressing their faces, trying to shake them awake.

"Do something about it, Rowena." Salazar growled, fixing his robes and brushing something off. "I haven't gotten all day – I still have some _personal,_" he glared at Godric, who smiled cheerily at him. "Business to do."

Rowena Ravenclaw straightened up after taking a long look at Hermione who was still on her knees, going from couch to couch trying to shake the girls awake. Then the Ravenclaw founder put her hands on her hips, and Helga and Godric moaned.

"Me? Why _me_? If you are so keen on leaving, o' mighty Slytherin, why don't you bring consciousness back to the girls? Honestly, when something hard comes along, you always drop the work on me!" she exclaimed, as Slytherin puffed out his chest and started throwing answers back.

"That's because you're the smartest out of us. At least you're _supposed_ to be the smartest. What have you lost that title now?" he started nagging her as Rowena gasped at the insult. As quick as lightning, both of them pulled out their wands and pointed them directly at each other, in ready-dueling position.

"Helga, please do something about it." Godric laughed a little bit as they watched the two.

"Oh, they always argue about this and I'm the one ending up doing all the work." Helga murmured, rolling her eyes and moving swiftly towards the unconscious girls.

"My dearest Helga, that is because you are the most loyal and kindest person ever." Godric batted his eyelashes, both of them not paying any attention to Hermione.

"That's because none of you are loyal or kind enough." She murmured, and Gryffindor barked out a laugh. "Sweetie, stand back for a little while, please." Helga smiled sweetly at Hermione, who was still trying to shake her friends awake. She eagerly nodded and walked back.

"Stand back, but not too far back so that you don't get caught in their duel." Gryffindor laughed, gesturing to Slytherin and Ravenclaw, who were in a non-verbal wand duel.

Hermione laughed, brushing her stray hair away from her face.

"_They're nearly one thousand years old and they're acting like a couple of teenagers. I honestly didn't think I would see any of this happen."_

She laughed out loud, and heard Godric Gryffindor snicker behind her and mutter something, which seemed like. _"It's been going on for ages."_

Hermione spun around and stared at the man in a mix of curiosity and suspicion. She studied Occlumency when she helped Harry to, and she blocked her mind, but didn't feel anyone trying to get in. This was _very _weird. But since he was a founder, he could probably do anything he wanted…

She turned back to Helga Hufflepuff, who just knelt down in the middle of the two couches. She put her hand on Luna's forehead, brushing away stray hairs which could interrupt, and murmured something almost inaudible, and did the same thing with Ginny.

"They both should be fine. They're not as strong as thing one is, but they haven't under come any changes and haven't acquired any injuries. If I'm not mistaken, they should be starting to wake up right now." Hufflepuff noted to Gryffindor, as the two girls started to stir right when she said the last two words.

Hermione gasped and ran over to the two girls on the couches, shaking them awake.

"Five more minutes mum, Ron, Harry, Charlie, Percy, Bill, Fleur, George, Hermione or whoever the bloody hell you are!" Ginny mumbled angrily, and she flipped onto her stomach. As Hermione was about to open her mouth to protest, when Ginny flew up from her seat.

"HERMIONE! Oh GODRIC, I was so scared, we were in the bar and then I saw Nott and Avery attack you at the same time, oh Godric, and then the spells collided when they hit your chest, and then there was a huge flash of light and you just disappeared, still George left early with Katie, so I was there alone, so then when you disappeared, I felt myself flaking away after you and getting dragged into this super-massive darkness and, Godric I was _so_ scared!" she said everything extremely fast, as the two founders looked at her anxiously.

"Ginny, stop blabbering you're—" Hermione started, but was cut off with Godric Gryffindor coming from behind her and putting his hand on her mouth.

"I know that I have extremely good looks and my name is very catch, but I'm pretty sure it's not too necessary to say it three times in one sentence." he grinned cheekily, as Hufflepuff rolled her eyes and smacked the back of his head.

"Who are you? You're not Hermione, 'cause she's there, you're not Nott of Avery, 'cause you don't look like any of them. You're definitely not George, and you're not Katie, 'cause you're not a girl. So… who are you?" Ginny asked, scratching her head and eyeing Gryffindor suspiciously.

"Wha—? How can you not know—This is just—wow—" Godric exclaimed, flinging his arms into the air, completely exasperated. "Did someone really transform me or something? Am I in my normal body? Hermione, dear, tell me, do I look like myself?"

He put his hands across his chest looked at Hermione. She opened her mouth to answer, cut was cut off.

"Oh Godric, stop being a child." Helga nudged him. "The girl has traveled a long way and this is not some way you should treat he—"

"Hello, Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff."

Everyone was so concentrated on either Ginny, or their duel that they didn't notice Luna Lovegood get up and stand behind them.

"It's nice to meet you. Father told that the founders were somewhere out there. He had an article in _The Quibbler _once about it. No one else believed him, but I did." She said airily, earning a beam from Helga Hufflepuff and Gryffindor puffed out his chest in pride.

"It's nice to meet you too, dear." Helga put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "How was your trip? Not too rough, I hope?"

"It wasn't too bad. A little unexpected, actually. I was down by the river in the forest, fishing for some freshwater plimpies for dinner. My dad told me my mom's friend had the best recipe for them, and she lent it to him. Suddenly I just started to flake away, like snow on a winter day." She continued dreamily.

"That's nice, sweetie." Helga smiled, showing her bright teeth. "Now, I better go sort out their… duel." She grumbled, as she walked away to where Salazar and Rowena were still in a non-verbal duel. Godric followed and gestured the girls to follow him.

"Thank Merlin you're here, Luna. I wouldn't manage without one of my best friends." Hermione hugged Luna tightly.

"Yes, it's good to be here. My life was still in ruins, so I think we are going to have a fun time together!" She smiled dreamily, and Hermione giggled, taking her hand.

The three girls had become the inseparable three best friends after the war. Hermione attended Hogwarts to do her NEWTs, so she was in the same house as Ginny and shared classes with Luna.

"Wait. Hermione. Stop." Ginny pulled on her, and the two girls turned around to face the redhead. "That guy… The hot one with brown hair… That was bloody Godric Gryffindor."

"Yeah, Gin. Nice going." Hermione smirked, linking arms with both of the girls.

"And I wouldn't call him 'hot', Ginny. He _is_ around one thousand years older than you." Luna laughed, as they skipped to the four founders.

"Age doesn't matter." The redhead waved her off absentmindedly. "What really matters is—"

"How do I do this…"

"Lemme help, Helga!"

"No, Godric! Do you remember what happened last time?"

"Remind me?"

"You blew the whole place up."

"And made Salazar clean it all up. Admit it, it was totally awesome."

"Godric, don't—"

"Too late."

BOOM! There was an explosion where the four founders were. The three girls saw Slytherin fly to one wall, and Ravenclaw fly to the other. Godric and Helga were now covered from head to toe in soot, and there was a big hole in the middle of the hall.

"GORIC I TOLD YOU NOT—"

"That was _awesome!_" Ginny exclaimed, running towards Helga and Godric, and the woman frowned and with a wave of her wand all the soot disappeared off of her. Goric did the same thing, then grinned and ruffled Ginny's hair.

"See, Helga? The kid likes my creativity!"

"That's 'cause she's in _your_ house, Gryffindor." Helga smiled kindly, cupping her hands around his cheeks, then heading towards the middle.

"Now. You two! Again! Why is it _every _single time we have guests over, you start this again. Salazar, you'll be cleaning the room up, as well as the first two floors."

"Yes!" Gryffindor whispered as he punched the air.

"—And Godric will be helping you."

"WHAT?!" both founders exclaimed, their jaws hitting the floor.

"You heard me. The two of you will have to cooperate for once in your life. You are both, what, a thousand years old? And you're acting like children!" Helga exclaimed, throwing her arms into the air, as Godric grinned cheekily.

"Yeah, that's exactly what Hermione thought."

"Yeah, I—wait, how did you know what I thought? I didn't feel any Legilimency. I'm an Occlumens and I did not feel anything."

"That's because it's a different type of magic, dear." He smirked, as the other three founders rolled their eyes.

"Or maybe your head is all full of wrackspurts. That's why you can't defend your mind." Luna suggested, swaying and humming a strange melody.

"That's also possible." Godric added in stroking his beard. Then an awkward silence fell over again, the teens staring at the adults, and the adults staring at the teens.

"So…" Ginny started, breaking the ice and everyone's eyes focused on her, but she bravely stood up to it and tried to give everyone a look, so that they wouldn't focus on her.

"The real question is why exactly are we here?" Hermione asked, cutting Ginny off, who sighed in relief. "As much as I'm concerned I should be dead and Ginny and Luna should be back at home, not here."

"Tell me," Rowena Ravenclaw glided across the floor where she was standing to right in front of Hermione. "How much do you remember? What was the _last _thing you remember?" she eyed Hermione carefully, her dark blue eyes staring into Hermione's warm chocolate ones.

"The Death Eaters attacked the bar where Ginny and I were and I was dueling Nott and Avery. I tripped over an fell, so then they both cast a different spell and it hit me directly in the chest. I began spinning and landed in the orchard just outside." Hermione finished, crossing her arms around her chest.

"Was there something in particular that you were wearing that day?" Slytherin asked curiously.

"She was wearing a cocktail dress, which she's wearing no—" Ginny started listing off, but Slytherin rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"I mean something magical. Something that could interfere with spells…"

"My time-turner!" she gasped, tugging at the chain on her neck, and she pulled out the broken time-turner and more sand spilled out of it. That's what the dust was all about when she got up in the orchard.

"That's right. Luckily, instead of travelling back one thousand years or so, Rowena intercepted you and brought you over here." Helga smiled warmly. "And now you're here with us for a while!"

"A while?" Ginny asked, rubbing her head.

"What do you want to stay here forever?" Slytherin asked, this cold eyes boring into Ginny's who shuddered.

"Definitely not with you." She snorted, as Gryffindor laughed and patted her back.

"Good one, Weasley."

"How do you—" Ginny started, but Hermione cut her off.

"But why exactly are Luna and Ginny here. Of course I'm happy that they are and I wouldn't want to have it any other way, but if I'm the one who got hit, why did they come with me?"

"Think again, dear." Rowena's eyes locked with Hermione's. "Why would three girls be connected? Remember all the research you did in your seventh year? Out of that, what could've connected your fates?"

Hermione stood thinking, trying to remember what happened, but Luna cut her off.

"Maybe a blood exchange?" she asked airily, staring at Ravenclaw, and across the founder's face came a look of pride and maybe even a small smile.

"That's right, Luna."

"Merlin! I forgot the animagus transformations! It says in the books, which I read that when you're doing the ritual to become animagi, you have a choice. If you're doing it with other people, you can exchange blood, which gives you both extra protection and power, but at the same time vulnerability. So if one of us is in trouble, the others know! If one of us dies, the others do too! Merlin, how could I be so daft to forget this!" Hermione groaned, covering her face with her hands.

"Very good, Hermione." Rowena smiled at the teen, who blushed a little. "So now, we're allowing you to spend a week at our castle, before you head off."

"Back into the future?" Ginny asked, tilting her head to the side.

There was a long pause. No one talked, and the three founders, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw put their heads down. The three teens exchanged looks, trying to figure out what happened, and then Slytherin finally stepped up.

"You've been brought back. This was your destiny – your _true_ destiny. You're supposed to change everything that has happened in the second war. So you will be going back to the time of the first war to defeat Voldemort there." He said boldly, stepping back.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked slowly, as her eyes widened in shock.

"The future's gone, dear." Helga said cautiously. "Since you've come back here, the future has been erased. You're making a fresh start."

Hermione's heart was beating fervently, as it had during the long and tiring Battle of Hogwarts. They could start over again! Everything could change! Harry wouldn't have to suffer paparazzi or the pressure of being the Chosen One, Bill wouldn't be scarred by Fenrir Greyback, Lupin and Tonks wouldn't be dead and Teddy wouldn't be an orphan, Sirius, James and Lily wouldn't be dead or betrayed, Dumbledore would still be alive and so would her parents.

Now instead of Harry being the Chosen One, it ended up that… the three girls would be the Chosen Ones. Now _that_ was even more pressure. This could end up either perfect or disastrous, and it was up to three teenage girls to stop it.

"Hermione, stop thinking too much. Honestly, you're giving me a headache." Gryffindor moaned, rubbing his temples. "You're definitely have your mother's brains, but your father's amazing good looks."

Hermione stopped. How did he know what her mother and father were like? She was just a muggle-born and so were her parents.

"What do you mean?" She asked, staring at him. "How do you know my mother?"

There was another silence and everyone stared at each other. Once again, Slytherin stepped up, groaning.

"Will you just tell the girl or not? You're giving me a headache. If you don't tell her now, then I will have to—"

"No, Salazar. Don't get your nose up. You're not telling the girls what happened to her." Gryffindor growled, throwing a threatening look to Slytherin, who just raised his arms in silent protest. This was the only time that day Gryffindor lost his character.

"Hermione, dear." Helga interrupted the silent staring contest. "Let's say this – you're not a muggle-born."

There was a silence again.

"What do you mean…" Hermione asked.

"She means you're a pureblood." Luna said dreamily. "Or a halfblood. I knew it all along. Had some sort of a feeling."

"You were born of magical parents, but they had to leave you. So they found a couple who couldn't have children and… well…"

"Gave me in." Hermione said angrily. Over all these years, she was called a mudblood by the Malfoy scum and all the Slytherins, when she was actually a pureblood. Why hadn't she known about any of this?

"Who else knew about this?" she asked again, trying to control her anger, but wasn't doing a great job at it.

"A couple of their friends, McGonagall and Dumbledore." Helga continued, eyes glued to the floor.

The brunette was getting angrier and angrier by the second. She didn't know about them and Dumbledore did? Her life was a lie! Then why had she gotten petrified in second year, if she wasn't a muggle-born?

"Why did they never come and visit?" she was on the verge of tears, as she stared at Hufflepuff, who lifted her eyes, and just with a look made Hermione feel much better.

"They couldn't, dear. They weren't allowed."

"Who are they?" Hermione demanded, looking at the four founders, who didn't look back. Finally, Gryffindor plucked up his courage and stepped up.

"Hermione." He started, face morphed with seriousness, as Hermione crossed her arms and gave him a look. "Your mother is Rowena Ravenclaw. And I am your father."

* * *

**OOOOOOOH! Cliffie! :D**

**I tried not to make the end sound like Star Wars "I am your father" but in my mind it still kind of sounds like it -_-**

**So how is it? Like it? Hate it? REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!**

**Also, I might be able to update chapter three, which is almost done, this week and if not probably in two weeks. :( I'm going to the cottage and I don't know if we have internet there. In any case :) I love you guys! 3**

**Thanks for the reviews to adrianiforever, cjewellm, Little Mudblood, Marine76! You guys are the best! **

**Much love!**

**Dasha xx Girl. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Fewhh! Back from the cottage and I have a lot in store ;) school's almost coming up, gahhh! Don't wanna go back!**

**I got a message from ****Valitahh.15**** for permission to translate to Spanish and I am honestly flattered! You are the best, guys!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone: it's all J.K. Rowling's! :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

No one moved. No one talked. No one did anything, even after several minutes. It was so silent you could even hear the enchanted like purring on Gryffindor's throne on the other side of the hall, and you could even hear the birds cheerfully chirping in the garden just outside the hall. After years and years of witty comments and insanely smart comebacks, all Hermione could do was gap and say the most unintelligent thing she could come up with.

"What?" Hermione stared blankly, not understanding anything that was happening. Her life had rapidly changed in the past twenty-four hours. She finally mastered playing Quidditch with Ginny, was convinced to go to a bar, which ended off with her dropping in a fluffy garden and finding out that her whole life was a lie... What a horrid turn of events!

Her question remained unanswered for more or less five minutes, but to Hermione it didn't seem like anything because she was trying to process everything that happened. Ginny's mouth was covered by her hands, her eyes sparkling, and Luna was on the verge of silent giggles.

"I'm your dad. And Rowena is your mum," Godric said forwardly, bouncing back and forth. "That's why we didn't visit you. It's because we weren't completely allowed. Especially imagine what would happen at Hogwarts if it came around that you were the daughter of two founders."

"Probably much more respect than I got from Malfoy," Hermione grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. She silently cursed Malfoy and all the Slytherin gits who took it upon themselves to bring pain on her just because of her blood status. "Father," She added, as small smirk tugging at her lips

She re-enacted the sorting ceremony in her mind what it could have been like, when a buck-toothed, frizzy-haired stuck-up know-it-all was called to the front by the name of Hermione Ravenclaw, or vice versa, Hermione Gryffindor. She would've gotten a whole lot of respect from everyone she befriended, even Malfoy.

Godric opened his mouth to speak, but before any words came out, Slytherin spoke before him.

"Actually, you were born after a bet. They both lost a bet, and you were the outcome of the loss." Slytherin interrupted the warm moment, his cold unforgiving eyes glistening with glee. "Sorry to burst your bubble."

Helga huffed, and Godric rolled his eyes, rubbing his face at Slytherin's arrogance and entertainment, and finally after a long silence and of her eyes on the floor, Rowena stepped up and lifted Hermione's chin up.

"We were still_ very _proud of you and we love you very much. Even though we were never physically there, we still watched over you and prayed to keep you safe." Suddenly, Ravenclaw didn't seem so scary, and her eyes became more comforting, above frightening.

Now she understood what happened all the years prior her graduation at Hogwarts. Whenever she thought, she felt another presence sort of guiding her and the other nagging her and letting out sarcastic comments. The voices definitely _did_ help her throughout the years. When she was in the Chamber of Secrets and the basilisk was near, she heard a voice inside her head to take out the mirror, which was most likely her mother. When she finally mastered Occlumency, she tried to block her mind and make a barrier but the voices still managed to be there.

"The basilisk!" Hermione gasped, remembering something after recalling her second year. This was the one thing she didn't understand.

Slytherin raised an eyebrow at her, smoothing out his robes and taking a couple of steps closer to her.

"_My_ basilisk? What about it?"

"Why did it attack me? Apparently," she gave her 'new' parents a look and continued. "I'm a pureblood, so why exactly did it attack me?"

"Oh," Helga snorted, covering her mouth to stop laughing. "Honestly, that _was_ your father's fault. You see, him and Salazar got into a fight the night prior to your… accident, and as revenge Salazar told the snake to go after one of Godric's most prized possessions – you."

"I'm sorry." Salazar smiled cruelly.

"_Doesn't seem like it." _Hermione snorted to herself.

"_Oh he never is."_ Godric added into her mind, as he physically just smirked at her raising his eyebrows. _"You know, he says he's sorry, the next day he goes and does something worse."_

"_As if you don't do that."_ Rowena added in pursing her lips.

"_Me?"_

"_Yes you, Godric. You said you wouldn't blow the castle up again, and you did!"_ she rolled her eyes.

"Guys, stop arguing! Honestly, so now you can talk to me through my mind and see everything I'm thinking?" Hermione scoffed, placing her hands on her hips, and leaning over towards them.

"Yeah. Awesome right? That's one of the best things of being the daughter of two founders." Gordric smirked, leaning on Rowena, who automatically moved away, and he lost balance for a moment. "So any time you decide to leave or go somewhere, we always have twenty-four hour parental control over you."

"Darn that must suck!" Ginny cut in, after not being able to be silent for such a long time. She flicked her red hair again and straightened up. "What if you wanna go to a party or something, or you're with your friends?"

"As Godric said, we always will watch over our Mione." Rowena smiled a bit, a mysterious Dumbledore-twinkle in her eyes.

"But that's so exciting though!" Luna exclaimed, clapping her hands, as the sound echoed through the hall. "I mean, obviously it might not be for Godric, because Hermione's mind is pretty chaotic with books and such, but that must be entertaining for Rowena."

Everyone laughed, as Gryffindor rolled his eyes and started rubbing his temples, edging towards Hermione, and everyone was distracted by something else. Luna smiled dottily, and Ginny interrupted her.

"At least it's not _your _mind," she joked. "Because you would probably be thinking about grindylows and unicorns until the sun set." Ginny flipped her hair, as her normal habit, not even realizing she did that.

"Maybe, maybe not." Luna nudged her back playfully, grinning slightly. "I don't think about those things the whole day, as you implied, probably suggesting that I'm off my rockers. But I do like to compare them to people sometimes. It's like Lavender Brown being a hinkypunk because she attracts to many males, but then there's no use in them following her 'light' an—"

"Oh Merlin, please get me to the medics." he moaned, rubbing his temples, as his robes suddenly turned from green and silver to a flashing red and gold and the rest of the founders and girls found Godric and Hermione stifling laughter, both of them putting their wands away.

"GODRIC GRYFFINDOR, WHAT DID YOU DO?" Slytherin bellowed, quickly drawing his wand and pointing it at Gryffindor, who raised his hands in his own defence.

"Honestly, Salazar. My daughters going to be going to school with four of the best pranksters—" Gryffindor started, but Hermione giggled and whispered something in his ear and he nodded seriously.

"I stand corrected – dear Mione here is going to be going to school with three of the best prankster in Hogwarts history prior to the Weasley twins, so I _have_ to teach her some tricks." He shrugged, ruffling Hermione's hair, and he whispered something in Hermione's ear who nodded eagerly and quickly took out and flicked her wand at Slytherin, who was too busy trying to fix his robes back, but suddenly his skin started flashing gold and red as well.

Now, it really did feel good being around her biological father and mother, no matter what the awkward circumstances were.

"You're corrupting my perfect child, Gryffindor!" Rowena exclaimed, even then a smile was tugging on her lips.

"You _have_ to practice on me?" Salazar barked back, losing his pride and anger rising.

"Oh, Merlin, Salazar, are you a wizard or not?" Hufflepuff huffed, as she took out her wand and performed a spell. "It's one of the easiest spells I know." She tried, but it didn't work. Helga tried again, but the colours didn't go away.

"Then _why_ isn't it going away?" the snake founder asked through his teeth, glaring at Hermione and her father.

"It's a new spell I made up, and taught it on Hermione. Permanent-colouring spell. You like it?" Godric stifled a bark of laughter. Slytherin started to move forward and challenge Gryffindor, but before he could protest, Rowena clapped her hands and interrupted the fuming founder.

"Anyways, we should get you girls some robes." She waved her hand and each of the girls' outfits turned into a strapless dress with a ballerina skirt going down to the floor. Luna's was yellow, Ginny's was green and Hermione's was a deep midnight blue. They were wearing ballt-like flats matching their dresses.

"Nu-uh, Rowena. You're not getting away with that." Godric snapped in a Z formation and waved his hand, turning Hermione's dress to a red one.

"No, Godric, it's going to be blue!" Rowena grumbled, waving her hand again, turning the dress to blue.

"Nope."

"Stop it!"

"You stop it!"

"Godric!"

"Rowena!"

"Oh for Merlin's sake!" Helga exclaimed, as she waved her hand and Hermione found her dress turn a neutral shade of lavender.

Salazar groaned at their 'stupidity', and rubbed his face even harder, trying to ignore the permanent gold and red robes on him, as well as his flashing face and hands as well.

"So what am I? Do I have awesome ancestors like they do?" Ginny exclaimed, jumping up and down after examining her dress. "Am I like the descendent of one of you guys? Or something?" she exclaimed.

"I believe," Gryffindor scratched his head. "That you have some long distance relation to me. Yeah, that's right. Your great-great-great-great-great-great grandma two times removed had a rendez-vous with me. And that was the second last time I ever lost a bet." He smirked proudly, and Ginny grinned.

"Aw yeah. Better than nothing!" she exclaimed, punching the air, not noticing the strange looks given from everyone else.

"So here, you will prepare for your journey back in time – you will acquire new, more powerful wands, we'll teach you dueling strategies and different other things." Rowena said, returning to her strict-mode, so she seemed a little bit like McGonagall.

"And pranks." Godric added in grinning wolfishly, and winking at all the girls. "We can teach you anything you like. If you just ask. You are going to stay here for a week, and then you will return to Hogwarts as seventh year students." He finished.

"What about our last names?" Hermione asked, laughing a little bit in her mind. "It _would_ be a little bit strange if there came a couple of girls by the names of Luna Lovegood, who isn't supposed to know Xenophilius Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, who looks exactly like a Weasley, or Hermione Granger, who is a pureblood with a muggle name. Or even vice-versa – Hermioine Gryffindor, going by the paternal surname." She grinned.

"Oh that won't do. That won't do at all…" Helga started thinking and everyone started thinking of names.

Hermione laughed and still couldn't believe what had happened to her. She was the descendent of the one of the greatest witches and wizards in the whole world. Her life was going to change drastically after this discovery.

"What about... I have the name Luna Thestral?" Luna asked dreamily, as everyone rolled their eyes at her imagination. "Or something different and strange like Luna Sovertine?" she asked again, as everyone gave her an odd look.

"How about Luna I-am-the-weirdest-teenage-girl-you-will-ever-meet?" Ginny suggested helpfully, removing all the sarcasm from her voice.

Luna narrowed her eyes and laughed at Ginny, as everyone else did and continued thinking. Obviously being her brilliant self, Luna was trying to think of a completely unique name, which would confuse everyone with its structure and pronunciation.

"Luna Thorn?" Hermione finally suggested, as everyone murmured in agreement.

'Thorn' would be a good surname for Luna because even though her airiness and dreaminess confused and mislead some people, after the war Luna got quick, aggressive and light on her feet, which was a major survival skill back in the day. Her dreaminess was more of a mask concealing a deadly predator growling inside.

"For some reason whenever I think of Ginny," Helga said thoughtfully, fixing her bun back in place. "I think of something to do with Herbology or nature. Maybe anyone has any suggestions off of that?"

"I am pretty decent at Herbology, even though I've always wanted to be an Auror. In third year, Neville gave me a couple of lessons about Herbology when we were practicing for the Yule Ball." Ginny commented in a irregularly intelligent voice. "And I like the colour green – it matches my hair." She added, snapping rapidly out of her smart-mode back to her cheekiness.

"Ginerva Evergreen?" Rowena suggested, a sparkle twinkling in her eyes, as Ginny nodded her head and giggled in agreement, looking down at her emerald dress.

"I like it!" Helga nodded approvingly. "_Evergreen_, both the tree and name reminds me of everlasting youth, and it's a little bit ironic or coincidental because you three have been young in both the '90s and now are going to be in the '70s near the '80s."

Hermione noticed that Godric and Salazar weren't paying too much attention and were twirling their wands. As she understood, it was Godric's playtime and Salazar's torture time, which meant getting different spells tested and getting a long grey beard grown, his hair getting static-y and his clothes turning into candy, and the word 'GIT' flashing on his forehead.

"Now... Hermione... Our dear Mione..." Ginny winked evilly, rubbing her hands together and grinning at the two founders and dreamy Luna. "What should we do for you."

"Please, ladies," Hermione yawned, bored expression on her face, as she closely eyed the four 'ladies'. "You all have more or less creative and interesting surnames, so please show a bit of effort for it?"

The others sniggered, as Salazar started growing in size, but Godric once again lazily flicked his wand and started shrinking his into a tiny figurine size.

"Hermione Rider?" Ginny asked, rubbing her chin.

"That sort of reminds me of that muggle book about some adventure hero and even thought I've been through a lot in my life, I don't feel like dragging a reputation of a spy-kid behind me." Hermione yawned leaning back. "And even though it may be Quidditch related, I'm not that much of a star to be named after a verb."

"Hermione Glenrose?"

"Too much like Ginny's..." **(A/N even though I kind liked that one...)**

"Hermione Rover?"

"Sounds like a car..."

And the names kept coming and coming, but none of them seemed to stand out or meet Hermione's expectations, even thought she tried to think of some creative ones herself. They might've gone through more than twenty names by the time one of the men spoke up.

"How about Hermione _the-monkey's-daughter_?" Salazar suggested 'helpfully', as he glared a Gryffindor who snorted gleefully.

"If Hermione would be '_the-monkey's-daughter'_ are you implying that she's a monkey too?" Luna asked curiously, looking at Slytherin with a twinkle in her eye and a smile tugging at her lips.

"I'm not implying, it's just the logical solution might be that." The founder stuck up his nose and smirked cruelly, as Hermione's jaw dropped to the ground, Gryffindor leaned back, completely amused and Ravenclaw was about to draw her wand when Luna interrupted them.

"So that makes you a monkey's uncle, doesn't it?" she grinned smartly, as Hermione and everyone else burst into giggles, Godric howled in laugher and Slytherin's eyes narrowed, and even though you couldn't see his face turn red, thanks to his flashing skin, it probably did. His cold eyes bored into Luna's skin, but she cheerfully ignored him.

"I'm telling you, that's one of the best muggle movies ever made." Ginny laughed, as Hermione scoffed.

"I think that's the only muggle movie you've ever watched, and that's only because I showed it to you, and couple rom-coms after that." The brunette laughed, as both girls recalled the memory, slightly smirking.

The summer after their third year, right before the Quidditch World Cup, Ginny came to Hermione's house for a couple of days because Arthur Weasley was more than happy to get at least one of his children to have contact with muggle technology. Ginny stayed at the Grangers' for three days and every night they watched a couple of movies.

When Ginny's dad finally picked her up, he was very pleased to be able to have a conversation about _'television? Is that what it is?',_ toasters and a variety of other muggle items not too commonly found in the world they lives in.

"We need to get Hermione a name." Ginny cut in, as Hermione snapped out of her memories once again refocusing on the work they had to complete.

Once they went through another ten names and Hermione rejected all of them the lion founder finally got tired and dragged himself towards Rowena as he whispered something in her ear, and she nodded approvingly.

"What about... Hermione White?" She asked, as Gryffindor stepped away, nodding.

"Hermione White? I like it." Hermione smiled, and so did Ginny and Luna.

"I think it's a nice name because ever thought Hermione may be a little bit overactive, she could never be able to go over to the dark side. It's not even genetically possible." Luna grinned a little bit, watching a blushing Godric and Rowena who suddenly undertook the roles of blushing Hufflepuff first years.

"Anyways..." Helga interrupted the pregnant pause, as she clapped her hands together. "As we mentioned earlier, you will be staying here for a week and we have everything planned out for you. We have lots of things to do, so we need to get going. You will be leaving seven days from now, so I suggest that you go and start catching up on your sleep. Travel may be indeed very tiring and exhausting." She smiled kindly, as the three girls yawned in agreement.

Slytherin started to slither away, **(A/N no pun intended) **and disappeared through a small room outside of the hall, and Helga led the girls up to where their rooms were located. They left the great halls followed by whispers from the two remaining founders who, it would seem, were discussing something extremely important, hence taking glances as the retreating girls.

After exiting the hall, they were led down the corridor and up moving stairs, which extremely reminded the girls of Hogwarts... only much cleaner. The moving pictures and paintings were of great witches and wizards over the years starting from 500 B.C. to present day. There were a couple of Dumbledore, Phineus Nigellus Black, and other Headmasters of Hogwarts.

Everything was nicely polished, especially the expensive wooden staircase, its edges covered in golden and carefully carved designs. For a typical muggle it would've taken centuries to clean the whole castle out, but indeed these four were the founders and some of the greatest magicians in the history of magic.

They passed many rooms and hallways, but kept on going and going, until they came up to what seemed the sixth or seventh floor (Hermione lost count by the end) and Hufflepuff opened the large wooden door, leading the three girls into a long hallway, lit with torches, the beacons golden with designs of Lions and on the other side with Ravens. They passed a couple of rooms, one of which held cauldrons, specimens and potions, another with targets, which looked like the ones in their D.A. Club, which they had in fifth year, but that was only a glance of the front of the room.

Finally they got to the end of the hall, with three doors; one in the middle, the other two on the sides. The one on the left was a beautifully carved oak door with designs of pegasi, kelpies, mermaids, fairies, and phoenixes on it, which gave it a childish but Luna-like air. In the center of it, there was a big tree carved out; looking at it more carefully and closer, you could see different names – the line of the Lovegoods. At the very bottom of the tree there was Luna's name. In the tree there were different sorts of magical creatures and a small crest at the top of where the line started. The Lovegood family tree was very detailed with many members, starting with Luna's great-great-great-great grandparents to Luna herself. Around the tree there was a carving of three flying thestrals. And the only part in colour on the door was the people on the thestrals – it was Luna, Ginny and Hermione. On the top of the door was the name Luna Lovegood written in large capitalized letters.

The door of the right looked like more of a wood transfer. Starting from the bottom of the door to the center was a large house, which looked very much like the Burrow. There were light, fluffy clouds on above it with the sun shining through, beams of light falling down to the ground where it looked like there were people with red hair... At the very entrance of the Burrow, there was a miniature Molly Weasley, wearing a colourful apron on top of her plain robes as she was waving a large wooden spoon in her hand. In front of her, what looked like Percy Weasley wearing dress robes, as if he were going to an extremely important meeting at the ministry. But instead of his curly red hair, it was died flashing pink, purple and blue. There were a giggling Fred and George sitting behind a pair of bushes and once the mini Percy saw them, he started chasing them around the whole house. Bill and Charlie were on brooms, circling the top of the Burrow, laughing and throwing the Quaffle to one another. Arthur Weasley was just coming home from work, in his blue robes as he kissed Molly on the cheek and led her inside, trying to calm her down. There was Ron, dueling someone with messy black hair, who was the only one without red hair (for the exception of Percy). On the top of her door, just like Luna's there was Ginny Weasley carved in.

Hermione took a worried glance over at Ginny, who fell down on her knees in front of the door, reaching out and touching the beautiful utopian picture portrayed on the door. Her eyes were filled with tears, as they started streaming down her face, and only little sobs were heard.

Looking at her own door, Hermione gasped. It was made with such a magic, it wasn't even possible to believe. Hers, like Ginny's, was a transferred photo which had a couple of people on it – herself, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville and the Weasley twins. They were all laughing, in what seemed like a snowball fight and skating on a small pond on the edge of the scene. The longer she looked at it, the more the picture changed – from the winter scene it turned into a spring scene, with the eight of them running around, the boys on brooms and the girls were on the ground picking the flowers blooming right away. The summer came right after the spring, showing some laying on the grass under a tree, when some were bathing in the small pond, splashing, giggling and having fun. Right after that came the last season, autumn, where there were in a leaf fight, jumping into colourful piles of leaves and remaining as happy as they could ever be. The most magical part was that when it was the autumn scene, some of the leaves pealed off the door and flew into the corridor, tickling Hermione's skin and making her giggle, during the winter scene it grew a little colder in the room and some of the snow got thrown out of the picture at Hermione, who laughed, trying to protect herself from the cold, wrapping her arms around her body; when the spring came, she could smell the fragrantaroma of the flowers, and in the summer some water splashed hit against her face.

She snapped out of the dream she was watching, the dream she longed for to be her real life, which would never happen of course. She would meet new people – people who were supposed to be dead! She would meet people older than her by twenty years – Harry's parents, godfather, parents' friends, enemies' parents and even mortal and temporarily immortal enemies.

"You will be sleeping in these rooms, I'm sure you've already figured out which one's which... I hope you like them. Tomorrow morning come down to the hall for breakfast. Even though we may be long-living, even the founders need to eat a lot." Helga smiled warmly, as she started retreating.

Hermione's eyes prickled with tears – this wasn't supposed to happen, because it was all a dream! She would never be the same friend to Ron and Harry compared to who she was before. But change was mandatory. She wanted, no needed, to save Harry's parents as well as so many other people and kill Voldemort.

"Meet you guys out here in a few minutes?" she asked, looking at her two friends on her either side. Luna nodded somberly, and Ginny sobbed as an answer, falling to her knees, her tears still falling onto her beautiful red hair, which cascaded down both shoulders.

Each of them took a step towards their door and opened it, walking into the vast space compiled inside what looked like a small room. Hermione tightly gripped the handle, feeling the creative designs in the handle... and opened the door.

Her room was not as small as she thought it was – when she entered the room, the first thing she saw was the fireplace, a warm fire flickering in the hearth with three plush chairs standing in front of it on a big red and gold rug. It vaguely reminded Hermione of an extended Common Room. The dark glossy mahogany floor went around the whole room, giving at extra warm and extra feel.

She slowly walked toward the fireplace, taking in the strong smell of burning wood, which she loved so much since she was little. Her parents took her camping out when she was little, and even though she wasn't too much of an outdoors-y girl, she loved sitting by the fire in the evening, looking up at the sparkling starry sky and roasting marshmallows by the warm fire.

Hermione slumped down in one of the chairs and closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling deeply, listening to the sole crackling of the dancing fire and taking in the warmth and how she wanted to take this moment and freeze it for a lifetime. Even the chairs felt like the ones in the Gryffindor Common Room. She felt home.

Slowly getting up, she glanced to the right and saw something which made her heart skip a beat – it was three bookshelves lined up against the wall, surrounding a mahogany working table with a variety of quills, parchment and ink. Hermione's eyes lit up, as she picked up the nearest books to her – _Defense During the Dark Age_, which very interestingly didn't have an author, and Hermione never saw it before, even after practically living in the library for seven years.

There were many another books there, which Hermione didn't know. Most likely they were very rare and only had it in single copy. A couple had unknown authors, obviously stating that they were written a very long time back.

Then, Hermione decided not to linger in the library section of her room, because she could get very easily carried away, and she still had another part of her room and to meet Ginny and Luna outside. Skipping lightly to the other side, she found a large queen-sized gothic-style bed, with heavy looking silk drapes. On the bed there were several plush pillows and the blanket was made of red and gold silk. To the left from her bed there was a wardrobe, but Hermione didn't have too much of an interest in clothes and decided she would check it out a little later.

Walking to the left of her bed, she walked into a sparkling bathroom with a huge spotless mirror, marble sink with small gold tap handles. There was also a shower, surrounded by a glass wall and a Jacuzzi near it. There were candles lit all around the Jaccuzi, with a handful blue rose petals floating on the hot, steaming water. Beside there was a note saying:

_I didn't know what you would prefer – a shower or a bath, but decided that after your travel and took much pressure on the first day, you would prefer a hot bath. _

_Rowena Rav_

_Love, _

_Mum_

Hermione felt a smile tugging on her lips. Even though she wasn't completely used to the fact of being the daughter of the two of four of the founders all she could do was sigh and finally accept the fact, because nothing was going to change now... except for the whole past starting from 1977...

After standing absorbed in her thoughts, Hermione finally remembered that she had to go and meet her two friends outside her door.

"Blast!" She mumbled under her breath, as she recalled that she stayed in her room for over a half an hour.

Quickly jogging out the door, she found only Luna waiting for her, looking up at the ceiling, and swaying on the spot. It seemed like she was maybe looking for pixies or wrackspurts maybe.

"Hey Luna. Any nargles or wrackspurts here?" Hermione nudged her jokingly, already feeling her lids covering her eyes. The day _had_ been very exhausting – not just physically, but mentally as well.

"No. Actually it's pretty interesting. This castle seems to be nargle-free and I haven't seen or heard any wrackspurts around either." Luna said, smiling and continuing to sway and look at the ceiling, as Hermione raised an eyebrow at her.

"Then what are you looking a—ohh..." the brunette was about to ignore Luna's usual haziness, when she looked up to the sky and felt as if she was getting pulled in by its beauty. There was a sky full, or ceiling full of stars, meteors, and galaxies – a whole constellation. The scene stretched along the whole hallway, where it engulfed the place with complete darkness, except for the dimly lit beacons, the fire playfully twirling, illuminating its own small little space.

"It's... Beautiful..." Hermione gasped, not being able to tear her eyes away from the beautifully enchanted ceiling.

"Yes... It is quite intriguing. You thought that I was trying to spot something out, didn't you?" she heard Luna smirk, snapping out of her airiness, but then she quickly returned to it. "But it is very nice. The last time I remember seeing magic like this was in the Great Hall. But this ceiling and many other halls and the staircase is made the same way."

"Wait, what?" Hermione broke away her glance and looked at Luna strangely, who smirked again and noticed her eyebrow.

"But of course, you didn't really pay attention. When we came, this hallway was the same way – only instead there were sparrows flying around... And very top of the Grand Staircase was the same way. I'm surprised – after all these years, I would've thought you would notice more. Because as you learned, you always have to be on your guard!"

With the last word, Luna playfully tried to tackle her friend to the ground, but Hermione was now ready, and ignoring her drowsiness, dodged Luna and started tickling her from the back, tugging on her long dirty blond hair, as they both fell to the ground, laughing and tickling each other.

"Oooooh we're gonna get our dresses dirty!" Hermione giggled, poking Luna on the side, who laughed equally cheerfully.

"Ginny's really going to kill us, isn't she?"

"Yes, I will," came the voice of Ginny Weasley, from her doorway, as she came out and stood in front of the two girls, a tissue still in her hand. "Do you know how much those dresses cost?" She asked seriously, glaring them down.

"Not too much, because actually we got transformed into them." Hermione giggled, as Luna nodded seriously in agreement.

"Granger has a point... No, White has a point." She laughed, jumping up and pulling Hermione up with her.

"Actually it's Gryffindor." Ginny smirked, as they all hung around in the hall way. "Listen, do you guys wanna go to my room?" she asked.

"Naw it's fine. Let's go to mine – it's a complete enlarged copy of the Gryffindor Common Room." Hermione smirked, winking and Ginny and Luna, as Ginny's mouth dropped and a sweet smile came onto Luna's face.

"Minus the guys." She laughed, eyeing Ginny carefully.

"That's right, minus the guys. I don't think dad would approve if there were some guys in my room." Hermione laughed, and Ginny reddened a little bit, but Hermione and Luna took notice of it, as they walked into Hermione's room.

"So, not that you're done hitting on Hermione's dad, who's the next target?" Luna asked slyly, as Ginny turned a dark shade of red and mumbled something that sounded like _"Someone in the past time."_

Hermione was now so happy that she wasn't alone going back nearly twenty years – even though she didn't have her two best guy friends with her, she would have her best girl friends always with her. She wouldn't be a part of the Golden Trio, but might as well be a part of the Golden Trio in the past, but still they would never use that name. That was Hermione's right to use it with Harry and Ron.

"Oi, Mione, didn't our dear Ginerva here have a crush on Professor Lupin when he was our DADA teacher in our second, your third year?" Luna asked innocently, as Hermione rubbed her chin as her face turned into mock-shock.

"Sweet Merlin, that's right!" She joked, nudging Ginny lightly. "Now you'll have a chance to hit on him when he's actually in your league! Because you have to admit, when you were twelve, he was way out of your league and you were most likely out of his. I don't think he would go to any woman younger than Tonks." Hermione joked, smirking lightly.

"But what if he doesn't like me! I mean he's going to be with Tonks anyways... Oh—"

"Luna!"

"Mione!"

"GINNY HAS A CRUSH ON LUPIN!" The two girls exclaimed, jumping around and holding hands, giggling wildly as if they just drank a whole pint of Butterbeer, or maybe even closer to Firewhisky. They both knew for more than a while that Ginny had a crush on Lupin when he started teaching, and was a little bit in shock, and jealous of Tonks when they revealed their secret marriage.

After a few minutes, the two of them settled down. Hermione went to shut the door, which was left open and the two of them bounced down on either side of Ginny, who was comfortably seated in the middle seat in front of the fire.

"Don't worry Gin." Hermione smiled her kind motherly smile. "I'm sure it'll be alright."

"And don't even worry about Nymphadora. In our time she may be around ten years older than us, but here we're going to be ten years older than her. And I don't necessarily think Lupin would go too low to hit on a four year old. That would be very wrong. Very extraordinary." Luna smiled at Ginny, giving her a small wink, and Ginny began to smile.

"But Nymphadora had the hair and stuff—"

"But you have the red hair. I have to admit that's pretty sexy." Hermione nudged her, trying to cheer her up, as Ginny gave her a small smile. "Do you really like him? Because remember, it might be a fling, with the one you had with Michael Corner."

"We'll always there to support you. Even if you fall in love with the Giant Squid. Or a red cap... But that would be pretty dangerous, and I don't think you'd be that daft to go after things so much... stronger and older than you." Luna said partially dreamily and the other half amused.

"Oh shush girls!" Ginny giggled as the three of them started to tickle each other and talk about the crazy things they learned that day, which didn't even seem to be possible.

They rolled on the ground, jumped on Hermione's bed until they were fully exhausted and slumped down on the silky bed, yawning and cuddling together, warming each other and remembering happy moments of their past life.

"What do you think school will be like?" Ginny asked through stifled yawns, as she put her head on Hermione's stomach, smoothing out her dress so that wrinkles wouldn't be seen, but there was nothing to do, because after their active evening it seemed as if the wrinkles would never go away.

"Exciting?" Hermione suggested.

"Exceptionally Ordinary." Luna said airily, as she stretched her arms out, and the other girls giggled.

"But seriously, the Marauders are going to be there. And we've already passed seventh year... Girls, do you think that it might be time to have maybe a little fun? Challenge the Marauders, or something? Because we can pass our N.E.W.T.s again. Plus if we're gonna be trying to destroy Voldemort, after all, we might as well have a little bit of fun." Ginny suggested, a smile tugging on her tired lips.

"Maybe that wouldn't be too bad of an idea. Still, not many people finish Hogwarts two times do we? Maybe we can even turn some Death Eaters or to-be Death Eaters to the Light." Hermione smiled, as the other girls started at her in shock.

"Hermione Granger, ickle-Head Girl, agreeing to break the rules?" Ginny gasped in mock-shock, as Luna giggled.

"Maybe you can seduce Regulus Black, so that he doesn't die trying to replace the locket, which is probably already one of Voldemort's horcruxes." Luna suggested airily, as Ginny nearly fell off the bed, laughing and Hermione's eyes widened.

"Of course, Luna. Along with the rest of the Slytherin house!" She laughed sourly and sarcastically, trying to wash away the image of her trying to seduce Severus Snape, Nott, Avery and Malfoy. The thought of it made her shudder completely. These were people who helped in the death of so many Order members and innocent people, even though Snape didn't participate in it too much.

"Let's go to sleep, girls." Hermione sighed finally, as the others nodded in agreement.

"Night Mione." Both of her friends mumbled, walking out of her room and Hermione slid into the bathroom, where the hot tub was still awaiting her.

Slowly, she stripped out of her dress and shoes and slipped into the still hot Jacuzzi. After the long trip, it was comfortable to finally melt down in a bath of steam and rose-scented water. Reaching out of the Jacuzzi, she grabbed her wand, which was laying in her dress and conjured a fluffy white pillow, which she placed under her resting head, wild brown hair cascading down her shoulders, its tips in the water.

Finally, after a long time of being on guard, she could relax, and she assumed that this would be the last time for a very long time. She would be too busy to take rose-scented baths and lay down to actually process her thoughts.

Hermione sat and continued thinking as the whole castle lay asleep. She took a couple of rose petals and put them together, water droplets falling from her light skin on to the petals. Once she put them into a little pile together, they connected and created a floating rose on water, small water droplets sparkling in the candlelight.

She rubbed her feet together, enjoying the warmth and comfort she hadn't felt for a while before she ended up at the castle. She cupped her hands and scooped a handful over water and poured it over her face, taking in the feeling; the feeling she wanted to stay in forever, but soon her lids felt heavy and she, not wanting to, got out of the bath, taking a white towel awaiting her on one of the hooks.

After she was all dry, ignoring her tiredness, she brushed her teeth, smiled at the mirror her beautiful smile, which she had since fourth year, and conjured a pair of pyjamas, which matched her room – red and gold. Hermione slipped into her matted, but warm, bed and as soon as her eyes closed, her lights turned off, the ceiling filled with constellations. Smiling through her dream, the brunette fell into a deep, deep sleep.

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**Number three done! Hahaha this one had a couple Disney mentions in it :P**

**How did you like it? Reviews are highly appreciated!**

**Once again, thanks to my beautiful, wonderfully reviewers, followers, favouriters. Special thanks to **** 1517****, ****Marine76****, ****TsukiyoTenshi****, ****OpenBookLina****, ****adrianiforever****, ****perfectships****, ****BrightestWitchOfHerAge16****, ****LadyRainDancer****, ****EmilyMoo23****, ****Miss Rae,****imawitchywolfgirl****, ****Dark Goddess109****, ****mekom****, ****MystereRaven****, and Guest. **

**Also, a special thanks to my editor, who has to suffer through my long chapters and endless descriptions. Thank you for your patience, I love you!x Check her out on Miss. Literati, she's ****Silverclover****, and she has wonderful stories, such as **_**A Game of Life or Death(s). **_

**Thanks once again, love all around!x**

**~ Girl. x . Marauder ~  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ohh my! Can you believe school has started once again?! Arggh, summer why'd you have to go? Anyways, so happy I got back to you guys! So much work nowadays... PACE English is insane! SO many essays and assignments to do.**

**Disclaimer: HP is not mine. **

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**"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." ~Lao Tzu**

**~OoOoO~**

It only seemed like minutes of peace and calm when she felt someone else's presence in her room. Lazily opening an eye, she noticed unfamiliar bedsheets and a vast room in front of her. Terrified, she jumped up, searching her pyjamas for her wand, but then remembered the crazy day already behind her, and fell back in her bed, shutting her eyes once again.

A small cough was heard from the doorway, and Hermione raised her head and opened one eye, trying to make out the tiny figure standing at the door.

Groggily, she finally asked. "Who's there?"

"It is Flipsy, Missus!" a high-pitched voice sounded out, which Hermione immediately recognized as the voice of a house elf. "Masters and Missusses ordered Flipsy to come get Missus for a special welcoming breakfast!" she squeaked out.

"Please, Flipsy, Call me Hermione." Hermione smiled kindly, even though her hair was still mussed up from her long sleep and might've set a horrifying image to her straight teeth and smile.

"Oh," Flipsy started, staring at her feet, smoothening out her small dress, which at least served as a small level of equality, unlike the way other wizards dressed their house elves. "It is a great honour, Miss Hermione! You see, Flipsy is new here. Yes, very new! Flipsy has only been here for ten whole years, and not once did Masters and Missusses have a guest staying, except for frequent guests they have on New Years and other times." Flipsy mumbled, still fiddling with her dress.

"Well, it's an honour to meet you. Tell them I'll be down in a minute or two." Hermione smiled again, rolling out of bed, as Flipsy nodded and dissaparated on the spot, as Hermione headed towards the bathroom.

Her body was still very warm from her sleep, and the cool marble tiles seemed to cool her down by a couple degrees. She walked over to the mirror, and as soon as she looked in the mirror, she gasped, horrified. Her hair was a complete mess, much worse than she expected, and she expected it worse!

Luckily it had smoothened out the last year, and her unbrushable bushy hair was tamed, turning into long chocolate locks falling down to nearly reaching her waist. Nevertheless, every morning Hermione woke up in the morning, it was equally as messy as it had been her whole life.

Quickly, she brushed her teeth using her favourite spearmint toothpaste, which someone had luckily decided to leave in her bathroom along with a toothbrush. Hermione also managed to find a large hairbrush, as she ran it through her long locks, finally taming them and brushing out the knots. When she exited the bathroom, she found a pair of jeans and tight cotton red t-shirt with a golden lion design on the front and on the back "GRYFFINDOR" written in gold letters, as well as a pair of sneakers and other garments lying on her bed.

Snorting at what seemed to be Godric's choice of clothes, she quickly got dressed, pocketed her wand, and left the room, struggling to pull on the second sneaker, and somehow managed to hop across the whole hall on only one foot. After finally getting it on, she grinned proudly and started walking forward.

"You would've become the champion at the Wizarding Olympics if there was an event called one legged balance race." Someone smirked from behind Hermione, who jumped, clutching her chest and turned around to face a grinning Luna. Who was dressed in the same style clothes, only blue with an eagle and the name "LOVEGOOD" spelt out on the back.

"Blimey, Luna! You scared the hell out of me! How do you do that?" Hermione gasped, her heart still racing, as Luna looked at her with an amused expression lurking her face.

"Do what?"

"Sneak up on me without me noticing!"

"I guess I'm light on my feet. Like the fairies flying around you." She said dreamily, as Hermione snorted at Luna's imagination, but soon did realize that the ceiling looked like a magical forest roof, with vines, leaves and a couple of berries. There were large morning glory flowers hanging from the top and small fragile multicoloured fairies were flying to and fro, giggling and laughing, twirling and dancing, flying around the two girls.

As always, Luna laughed at Hermione's astonished face, the same one she wore the previous day when saw the starry enchanted ceiling.

"Magic doesn't seem to end amazing me." Hermione mumbled, examining the actions of the fairies, who were blushing and dancing, giggling and shying away from Hermione, covering their mouths and whispering to each other. "I wonder what their whispering about."

"You're probably scaring them. Or maybe you look like an enlarged fairy!" Luna smiled dottily, as Hermione rolled her eyes happily, still thankful Luna was with her and the same old Luna. "Let's go to breakfast! I hope there's pudding..." Luna giggled, as she poked Hermione's stomach and ran off in the direction of the staircase, and she chased after her.

When they finally got down to the floor where the hall was located, they ran into nearly empty hall, where a long table with eight chairs around, Rowena and Helga already sitting down and whispering about something, Slytherin and Gryffindor dueling again, which seemed like an everyday ritual since the moment they got to the castle.

When the founders noticed Hermione and Luna, they stopped, Slytherin and Gryffindor even stopped dueling, and the two girls walked in. The big golden rimmed table was covered in all sorts of morning delicatessens, ranging from a typical English breakfast to exotic fruits not found anywhere in Europe. There was pudding (to Luna's satisfaction), toast, boiled eggs, jam, peanut butter, sausages, fruits, oatmeal and so much more, which seemed to extremely weigh the table down.

"Good morning everyone!" Luna said cheerily, jumping to the table, sitting down beside Hufflepuff, who beamed at her cheeriness.

"Morning," Hermione smiled plainly, as everyone else murmured in unison. There were three spots left – two in between Luna and Slytherin and one at the head of the table, with the highest chair.

Charitably for Ginny, Hermione sat down beside Luna, deciding to leave the redhead the pleasure of sitting beside her least favourite founder. Once everyone was seated, there were only two vacant spots; Helga and Rowena continued in what seemed like an intelligent argument as the two males stared the food down.

"You know, Uncle Salazar, you might as well burn a hole in the pudding. And I don't think Luna would like it at all." Hermione smirked, earning a howl from Gryffindor and a scowl from Slytherin.

"No one and I say _no one_ touches the pudding." Luna said dead seriously, holding up her spoon and glaring at Slytherin, who even sunk back in his chair under the blonde's glare. Luna had the lightest feet and most effective glare in the wizarding world. No one could beat her in those two things, as well as an argument about magical creatures.

Suddenly, the doors slammed open, and a tired looking Ginny dragged herself in, her usually perfect red hair messed up, eyes partially opened and she fell into her chair gazing at her surroundings. After smiling sheepishly at Hermione, she turned to her right and yelped at Slytherin who was eyeing her curiously.

"Merlin, not you again." She grumbled, as she picked up her fork and started playing with it, attempting to puncture holes in the table, which obviously didn't work.

"Sorry, but who are we waiting for?" Luna asked, not taking her eye off of the pudding, as Ravenclaw quickly turned and responded.

"Someone who visits us daily. He has a habit of eating with us every morning even though he doesn't need food." She laughed chipperly, fixing her diadem in her midnight black hair, then nodded to the door, which opened again. "Ah, here he comes right now,"

And as the doors opened, in stepped a tall wizard in light grey robes, striding elegantly across the floor. His long beard and half-moon spectacles seemed to bring out his twinkling blue eyes more. Hermione, Luna and Ginny nearly fell out of the chairs when they realized who they were facing – it was Dumbledore! The same one who had died in their sixth (and fifth) year. It looked as he had the last time they saw him, remove the bad condition and burnt hard.

His eyes twinkled, scanning each of the girls, whose mouth practically unhinged and were lying somewhere on the floor.

"Hello, my dear ladies! It's lovely to see you again!" He smiled cheerfully, sitting down at the head of the table. "And good morning to you too, Rowena, Helga, Godric, Salazar! Oh my! Pudding! My favourite, except for Sherbet Lemons, of course! In fact, where are my Sherbet Lemons?" he asked curiously.

"Sir, you are most affectionately addicted to them, I don't think eating them at breakfast would improve any of your sugar levels." Godric smirked, falling back in his seat, as Dumbledore nodded cheerfully.

"Oh, wise of you, Godric. You are, perhaps, right. At afternoon tea then. I'll have some of them and maybe will even share with someone my friends!"

"Dumbledore sharing Sherbet Lemons?" Luna smirked.

"Never," The three of them said all together.

"You look... In good shape, Dumbledore. Taking fitness classes? Maybe a little zumba?" Ginny laughed, as Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"A little stretch at times. But that is a good idea – I would most certainly like to try that one out!" He smiled, his blue eyes still twinkling as Ginny reddened and mumbled something, which seemed like _"It was only a joke..."_ but good old Dumbledore took it quite seriously.

Why was Dumbledore here? Didn't he die a while back? If he could be here, why couldn't he return to England and help the three of them on the horcrux hunt of during the war? All of these questions were racing through Hermione's mind and for once, she wanted someone to answer the questions for her.

"Sir?" She couldn't take it anymore. "How come you're... well... alive?" she asked unsurely, as Dumbledore smiled at her.

"That is a question to be answered at a later time." A smile played across his lips. "But now, we eat!" he said cheerfully, as Hermione rolled her eyes. Everything always waited till the end to be answered and sometimes wasn't answered at all. But now, all that was awaiting her was food – oh glorious food!

Helga and Rowena being real ladies took small portions of everything, eating less than the others, but the men and travelers couldn't help but eat more and more and more. Hermione felt like Ronald on a typical morning, and sadness hovered over her, but what soon eaten along with her food.

After piles of delicious food and many servings of the Hogwarts pudding Luna missed so much, the plates and food disappeared and Dumbledore faired them all farewell, retreating out the doors and into an unknown direction. _"So much for getting her questions answered..." _Hermione thought angrily, but was interrupted by everyone getting up.

"So today we will start on the easiest thing for the week." Rowena Ravenclaw started, looking at the three girls, who were lined up in front of her. "Making your wands. You will have to dispose of your wands right now." She said strictly, opening her hand, as the girls looked at each other, but the founders took no notice of their confusion.

"But Miss—erm—Mum? Why do we need new wands? Our old wands are completely satisfactory for each of us and we know how to use them properly." Hermione gripped her wand, and Luna and Ginny nodded in agreement doing the same.

"Hermione, dear," She hesitated on the word dear, even though her voice softened up a little bit, as she talked to her own daughter. "Your wands are powerful, we have seen them. But to face Voldemort in the past, you will have to make your wands more powerful – most likely with a double or even triple core."

The three girls gapped at her. They had _never_ heard of such a thing. A wand with more than one core – impossible!

"I've never heard of it before," Ginny said stubbornly. "And how will we make our own wands? It takes lots of skill and stuff..."

"And that is a skill, which you will learn today, girl. Get with the program!" Slytherin snapped her, as Ginny glared at him, astonished, and the staring contest began.

"You will craft your own wand from the wood you choose, add the cores of your choice, as well as some other factors..." Helga trailed off, leaving the 'surprise' for the actual lesson. "Rowena and I will be teaching you. Follow us right now."

Ginny and Slytherin broke off their contest as the girls gave their wands in and followed the two women a couple of flights of stairs and into a room directly on the second floor. Even though they were probably a thousand years old each, they were very quick and the three girls had to keep a pacing jog to follow them and stay at least to meters in distance.

The room they walked into seemed like a muggle workshop – there were different machines, all sorts of tables set out with different materials placed out, ready to be picked. The sun pitched through the glass door, which led out into a beautiful garden with different flowers, trees and plants.

As Hermione had guessed, these were items picked from the garden, specifically on the castle grounds. There was _so_ much to choose from, her eyes couldn't find a concentration point. An assortment of tools – small and large, were placed along one long table, probably for cutting up pieces or something on the basis.

"So here we are!" Helga said cheerfully, smoothening out her dress. "The wand room. So, firstly, each one of you will have to pick the wood you will use _for _your wand. You will be able to find them in the far back corner of the room. Then, choose your cores, and as you can see, there are a variety of different cores, from whichever you desire. So you can do that right now, and we will give you further instruction, once you're done." She smiled kindly, as the girls set to work.

The three of them walked over to where the different pieces of wood were located. There was practically everything you could ever dream of: pine wood, ebony, hawthorn, willow, rosewood, elder, birch, mahogany, holly, ash, elm, cedar, rowan, vine, and many, which Hermione could not identify.

"I thought the wands would choose us, like they did in Ollivander's shop when we were eleven." Ginny grumbled, looking through the different pieces of wood, placing each one she picked up aside.

"Same here. But this makes it much more exciting, doesn't it? I mean we get to create something powerful that only we can control!" Luna's eyes were shining as she picked up a piece of wood, examined it and threw it aside.

Hermione murmured in agreement, looking through all the pieces of wood, finally settling down with holly wood, partially because it reminded her of Harry, which represented and reminded her of hope, and partially because she loved Christmas and even her name seemed to agree with it – a white Christmas, as well as her new White surname.

Ginny also seemed to choose her wood, as she proudly made her way to the core section, puffing out her chest, holding what seemed like a strip of evergreen close to her body. Who would've known Ginny knew her plants and trees.

Luna also finished choosing her wood, as all three of them moved on. Luna obviously chose something only a person like Luna would choose – she chose condensed and dried mistletoe as her wood, taking note to ask the two founders whether or not the mistletoe she chose was _"nargle-free? Because if my wand hand nargles in it, I don't think that will be the best of luck. At least that's what dad used to say."_ Hermione couldn't help, but smile at Luna's behaviour.

In no less than twenty minutes, the girls were done choosing their cores; Ginny stuck to the classic dragon heart-string and unicorn hair, Luna chose thestral and kelpie hair, and Hermione chose the phoenix and Pegasus feather. Then, the three of them approached the two founders, who were once again in a deep conversation.

They presented their wands, placing them on the table and Rowena started to explain what was going to happen next.

"Now that you've chosen what exactly your wands will be made of, there is one more step. You can do it if you want, but if you don't you don't have to; it's your choice, although I am telling you right now, with this step, your will be even more so connected than you are right now." She said, looking at the girls for an answer.

"What is this additional step? What exactly does it consist of?" Hermione asked curiously, thoroughly absorbed and interested, and Helga smiled warmly, immediately taking all the worry away from the room, leaving only cheer.

"Just a piece of your hair and a drop of blood for each wand." Helga smiled warmly.

Ginny raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "A drop of blood and a piece of hair? How would that exactly help or strengthen us?"

This made Rowena roll her eyes, and turn to face the wall, but Helga chided her. "The girl is just interested, Rowena. This rudeness isn't necessary." She said in a motherly voice, but Rowena didn't turn back.

"Each one of you will have your own hair and blood in your wand, as well as your two other companions'. Firstly, the hairs will connect you once again and will act like another core. The blood shows it can only be your or their property. So I believe you're familiar with the _Tale of the Three Brothers_?" she asked, as the girls nodded. "Well, there, the Elder wand was passed on once the owner was killed, but in your case even if you get killed, the wand, as powerful as it may be will always rest as yours or your friends'."

"And also, your wand cannot be broken or used against you." Ravenclaw added, coming back from her brooding in the corner.

"That is very smart. Hermione, do you believe we should complete this step?" Luna smiled kindly, nudging Hermione, who was absorbed in her thoughts.

"Yes, I think we should. It guarantees so much and in difficult times we are going to be going back to we have to be better safe than sorry." She nodded in agreement.

"Ginny?" Luna asked, and Ginny nodded. "We'll do it." She said, as the three of them each pulled out three pieces of their hair, placing one of each into the pile where their wood and cores were. Then, Helga handed each of them a needle.

Ginny looked at the girls unsurely, and muttered _"this is crazy..." _under her breath, and each of them pricked their fingers, squeezing out droplets of blood on each other materials. Luna started sucking on it, claiming that she could get an infection from all the materials she touched, and said that nargles could be dangerous, following with a question about her mistletoe.

"Rowena?" Helga asked, looking at the intelligent woman cheerily. "You're the best at this part."

Rowena huffed a little bit, and took out her wand, muttering an enchantment under her breath on each one of the wands, and suddenly the cores, hair and blood disappeared. The girls looked at each other curiously, and then looked at the founders.

"The cores are now inside the wands. It's a simple inversing spell." Ravenclaw said proudly, backing away and adding. "I made it myself, because it only works for wand making and—"

"You're the best at it. Don't need to brag about it." Helga laughed and the three girls joined in, taking their wands in hand, but Helga stopped them, just as they were about to test a spell on their newly-made wands. "Not yet. Not here at least. For now, we have to do the most, erm—well what can I say? _Muggle_ aspect of wandmaking – carving out your designs." She pointed to the table closest to them with a variety of tools on it.

Hermione grinned, examining her wand. "Wicked."

"Wait... so we just carve in whatever we want?" Ginny exclaimed, eyes wide and sparkling with awe, like Fred and George's would sparkle when they were up to no good. "Like, we can carve _anything?_ Anything at all?"

"Yes, anything. That's the best part of wandmaking isn't it?" Helga giggled, winking at the girls, as Ravenclaw rolled her eyes again. Then the chuckling Hufflepuff leaned in close to the girls and whispered. "Well someone's in a bad mood today," And the girls laughed in agreement, when Raveclaw yelled from across the room.

"Hey! I resent that!"

The three of them got to work, not slowing down a minute. Hermione decided to stick to a pretty plain design, just as she thought Ginny and Luna would. She really liked her previous wand with small vine designs going from the handle, covering a bit more than half of the wand. Carefully carving everything out, and shaking her hand from time to time, so that the blood didn't drip on her new wand. Obviously, it wouldn't make a difference if there was, but her whole concentration was on the carving. She didn't notice the time or the pain, partially because after the war she barely felt any small scratches.

Finally, she was done! Victoriously, she held up her wand to examine it carefully. It was almost the same as the one she had since she was eleven, but she decided to add three different flowers near the handle, a Lunar flower for Luna, a Ginny Gee for Ginny and a gentle Hermione Rose for herself. In neat cursive underneath, she wrote each one of their names.

When the others were done, she decided to go and examine theirs. It seemed as if they all had the same idea to include each other on their wand. Ginny's looked a lot like it had been before, only instead of multiple swirls near the beginning of her wand, she had three, on each one she carefully carved out each of their names, and as she had in her previous one six small circles going down.

"To represent my brothers." She noted, when Hermione asked her about the significance. "I've always been the only girls and longed for sister, but now I have two and no brothers..." she trailed off.

Luna's wand was most interesting. Around her wand, she neatly carved out three mistletoe berries, their vines going in a pattern around her wand and stopping with a small swirl a bit past the middle, just like in Hermione's. Hermione laughed when she saw what was carved out on each of the berries – there was a dog print on one, a fox print on the other and a horse print on the last.

"Quite witty, Luna." Hermione giggled, at the prints, and was about to comment something else, when the founders got up from reading books and instructed them the rest.

"You will be able to test the wands out tomorrow or later today, but for now, it's already dinner time!" Rowena said, finally a little bit more cheered up than she was while they were making their wands.

Dinner passed by well, and Dumbledore once again joined them for dinner, which completely didn't make sense in Hermione's opinion. It only seemed like they were crafting their wands for maybe a few hours, but by the end it ended up being half a dozen hours right up to dinner.

After dinner, they had a little relaxation time, which consisted of playing Quidditch. Hermione and Ginny were pleased and excited when Luna made the excuse of sitting down and watching because she didn't feel safe on a broom – only on a thestral or maybe a Pegasus. The two lady founders also sat aside along with Dumbledore, and a couple of ghosts joined the game to make an even amount of players. The first day went by brilliantly.

The whole week went by with the same type of schedule – one day it was dueling for six hours straight, where they finally got to test out their wands, and there was a completely different effect than the ones they used their whole lives. Their old wands had more of a... calm effect, but these ones were indeed more powerful. Their duels were practiced with Gryffindor and Slytherin while the ladies sat and roared in laughed when they got beaten by a bunch of eighteen year olds.

And Gryffindor, out of 'courtesy' to Slytherin was the one teaching them, while Slytherin was the one getting hit by spells and used as the target. The girls were taught different spells made by the founders themselves.

"And now, raised your wand, and do an eight motion." He directed Ginny, who did as he instructed and whipped her wand and yelled the incantation at Slytherin, who suddenly blew up like a helium balloon, flying up to the ceiling.

The watching founders burst out in laughed, as he floated up to the ceiling. They didn't see how Gryffindor whispered something to Ginny, who giggled and tapped her wand against the palm of her hand. Quickly, she swished her wand and yelled _"Resilio Militus!"_ as Slytherin got thrown against the opposite wall, creating a huge dent, as the ruins fell over him.

Hermione stared horrified. "You should help him! What if he's—"

"He's fine, Mione. Don't worry about it." Gryffindor dusted off his hands and walked over to the ruins, stepping a couple meters in so he was engulfed by darkness. In a couple of seconds he returned with a miniature battle statue of Slytherin.

After the lesson, once Slytherin was turned back into his own size, he claimed that he would never again help teaching teenagers dueling.

The following day, they brewed a variety of different potions they would require in the past. There were some potions they brewed in school, and some which they hadn't even tried – Veritaserum, Everlasting Elixirs, different antidotes, Felix Felicis, the complicated wolfsbane potion, as well as the newly invented Lupin's Drops, which was a potion which turned a werewolf back into a human for the rest of their days... Each one of the girls brewed their own set of around twenty potions, as well as a copy of different ones they might need.

The sequent day was Luna's favourite because it was their turn to study magical creatures, plants and berries. This consisted of actual physical interaction, testing, defence and protection. Ginny was the one at the bottom of their 'class', struggling the most, but Luna and Hermione claimed that they would help her if she ever asked for it.

Transfiguration and Charms followed, as they tested different spells, which could also help them and also tried a couple of things in their animagus forms. Obviously, each one of the founders had their own animagus form which was their house emblem. They taught the girls how to take lighter steps and transform into smaller versions of their animals for (as Gryffindor hinted in) "sneaking around, if you really need to."

The second last day was probably the most boring one they had. They had a woman equivalent to Professor Binns teaching History of Magic and important milestones of the 70s and 80s, which they would need to know in order to blend in as orphaned purebloods. Whilst they would sleep in class in Professor Binns' class, there were only three of them, so there was no chance of falling asleep there or doing anything mischievous, except for listening to the boring lecture.

They woke up early the next day and headed down to the hall, rubbing their eyes and yawning as they sat down for breakfast, eating their everyday specially prepared meals, and once they finished, they were all ready to go to classes, when Rowena announced that this day was only going to be for exploring and packing, because they were leaving that evening.

"Wow, explore the bigger version of Hogwarts! What about that?" Ginny laughed as they left the hall, going up stairs to just talk and hang around.

"Yeah, that's awesome! I can't believe we're actually here!" Hermione agreed, grinning.

"But... we're leaving this wonderful place to lay behind us. And returning to a world of darkness and evil." Luna said in a low voice a smile tugging at her lips, as everyone started laughing.

Hermione noticed Gryffindor leaving and going off to some place off the grounds. She glanced at her father, then at her friends, and decided to go after him.

"I'll be back. Don't worry about me, because I just need to do something..." she muttered, running back down the stairs following her father, and the other two girls looked at each other and shrugged.

She ran down the stairs and out the doors into the orchard where she first woke up. She saw him wander off to a crystal roofed pavilion, which seemed a little bit like a greenhouse, but more of a pavilion.

"Hey, dad!" she finally caught up to him, when he sat down on a bench to rest a little bit.

"Hello, Mione. So you're leaving today, huh? Can't believe it – my small girl is so grown up now!" he pretended to brush away tears, while holding her face and pinching her face, and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm not that little girl anymore. And I wasn't yours then either."

"Mione, love, you wound me."

"Sorry dad." She snickered, as he smiled as well. "So I have a question. A couple of questions actually. Two."

"One at the time." He said, leaning back and closing his eyes, but carefully paying attention to what she was saying. He was still a loving father, even though he was never there physically, but... mentally.

"Okay, first question – you know everything around, right? You watched me all this time."

"Yes, that is correct."

"So you saw that Rowena's diadem was destroyed."

"Mmm..."

"So, why does she have it? And why are there another Sorting Hat and Sword of Gryffindor. I know they belong to you, and they are your property, but the Sword of Gryffindor is with the Sorting Hat in the headmaster's office. Or supposed to be. The diadem is supposed to be in the Room of Requirements and everything else should be in other places. Why is that?" she asked curiously, as he opened one eye, the chocolate brown examining her closely.

There was a small silence, as he tried to compose an answer in his head, but for some reason Hermione couldn't hear his reasoning. Finally he spoke up. "It's because there's a double for any magical item. It means pretty much being in two places at one."

"Like time travel?"

"Yes and no. Time travel is when you actually go back in time and your present self is in that time. But in this case you are actually present in both places and can control and change whatever you do. So the diadem of Ravenclaw is actually worn by her in _this_ place, but back in the 90s it's destroyed." He finished as Hermione looked a little confused.

"I still don't really understand."

"Okay, think of it like this. This is the eternal world, which consists of only the grounds, the castle, the forest and some other places. This is like an eternal village and everything in this village has its own double on earth." he explained to her. "Understand now?" he asked, paying close attention to her, as she nodded.

They sat in their places for a while, Hermione processing over what she just learned, as a couple of people passed them. Hermione looked at them strangely, because she hadn't seen them at all in the castle. Then she noticed that there were actually more than just them in the garden.

_"It's so weird..."_ she thought.

_"What exactly is?"_

_"The thing that—"_she started, but then understood what just happened. "OI! Dad get out of my head. Honestly, is there a way to stop you and mum from getting in, because it's honestly very annoying!"

"There is..." he started, watching her, as her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. She did her famous puppy dog face, her eyes watering and pleading for him to tell her the answer.

"Come on daddy!" suddenly, she sounded too much like a six year old begging for a bundle of cookies. "Please! You _do_ know I'm very responsible and you love me very much, don't you? You told me yourself that you were very proud of me, and you only wanted the best! Right?" she smiled at him pleadingly, as he rolled his eyes.

"I can't resist." He smirked at Hermione, who silently thanked Merlin for it. "But you can't use it all the time, or else I'll disown you."

"Like you did the last eighteen years?" she smirked, as he raised up a finger to protest.

"That was _not_ disowning. That was simply... Deserting,"

"Thanks dad." Hermione said dryly, falling back in her seat, but then sitting back up like an excited five-year-old begging for a toy. "Can you tell me? Please?"

"Sure. I love you too much." He rolled his eyes are Hermione grinned, with a mischievous glitter in her eye. So there's a spell you have to cast. It's called _Intersaepio Salus. _Whenever you're done doing whatever secret things you're doing, you cast the same spell and your mum will probably bombard you with questions about, why she couldn't hear you, why you broke the connection, etcetera, you get my point, don't you?"

"Right!" Hermione grinned, kissing Gryffindor on the cheek. "Thanks dad."

"Alright, and no telling mum, okay?"

"Okay."

"Not telling me what?" came a voice from beside them, as Ravenclaw magically appeared there.

"Blast! Hermione, darling, you know that super, _super _secret meeting I told you about?" he winked at her, and she started playing along. "Well I'm very, _very_ late! Gotta go, see you sometime Ravenclaw!" and he darted from the green house, with Ravenclaw hot on his heels.

The brunette fell back and started laughing and thinking of how hilarious the messed up relationship between her biological parents was, especially since they were only friends and co-founders before her birth. But then a simple loss in a bet changed everything and baby Hermione née Gryffindor, was born.

Through her laughter she didn't even notice someone approach her. "Never thought I'd ever hear that laugh again. What do you say, Mione? Did you miss me?" a cheery, sarcastically friendly and familiar voice sounded out.

At the sound of it, Hermione's heart stopped and she was sure it skipped a couple of beats. When she looked up, and saw the face she had loved as a brother. The face everyone missed even though they saw it every day. But not the same one. Her eyes started prickling with tears, and it was true, he hadn't heard her laugh for a _very _long time.

"F—Fred!" she gasped through her tears, jumping up and attacking him in a big hug, as he chuckled and pulled her in. Her slender fingers brushed through his hair, as red as it had been the last time she saw him. "H-h-how? W-w-what? I don't underst-st-stand." She managed through sobs, gripping him tightly.

"I didn't expect to see you here either. You know, the last time I saw you was actually a couple of hours before my death. How was Georgie fairing? How was he the last time you saw him? Was he alright?"

"Oh, Fred, it was horrible after your death. George has never been the same. H-he doesn't do anything anymore. I-I-I couldn't b-bear watching him. It was too s-s-sad." She stuttered, tears still streaming down her pale face, as he rubbed small circles on her back.

"No need for the tears, Mione. You're gonna change everything now. I've heard from Godric that you're gonna be one of the Girl Marauders in the school. I congratulate you." He smirked his famous Weasley smirk, and Hermione giggled, wiping her eyes, and finally letting go of him.

"I won't let it happen. You won't die. I won't let you. And you'll have your prankster uncles too, and there'll still be James and Lily, and the rest of the Marauders, and everything will be alright." She sniffled, settling down on the bench, as he sat down beside her. "In any case, how the heck did you get here?" she asked finally.

"Well, you see, when I was getting sorted to either heaven or hell, I was giving the 'guard' or whoever the hell he is a very hard time, and when he heard that times were gonna change, he released me _way_ before time, so I've been hanging out here for the past month..."

"Wow that's—"

"Mione? Mione, where are you?" Ginny's voice sounded out somewhere in the garden, as Hermione bit her lip and Fred perked up at the sound of his sister's voice. "There you are! I've just cursed Slytherin with that hex Gryffindor taught us before and he's very pissed right now. I've been looking all—" she cut herself off when she saw who Hermione was sitting with.

That familiar red hair, those twinkling blue eyes, that permanent smirk on his face. Ginny put her hands on her mouth, her lips trembling severely. Her sky-blue eyes were rimmed with large, hot tears, which were threatening to pour out any second. She tried to speak, but her voice didn't come. Fred got up as well, and the two of them ran into a brotherly sisterly embrace.

Hermione didn't feel... completely comfortable intruding on a family moment, so she left the two reunited Weasleys, Ginny speaking through sobs about everything that happened, and Fred trying to calm her down and tell her it's okay, as they remembered happy memories. The saddest part was that Fred would not remember Ginny and wouldn't know that he had any relation to her.

Pushing the sad thoughts away, Hermione continued walking through the garden, seeing many people who looked very familiar. She walked around one of the edges to find a small waterfall and a tall handsome boy with brown-ish hair and in a Hufflepuff jersey, sitting in front of the fountain. His high cheekbones and elegant jaw gave him more of a higher pureblood status, and he continued sitting and staring at the pouring water. His jersey was torn and muddy with even some stains of blood on it. He looked very familiar...

Hermione gasped. "Cedric!" she exclaimed, as his grey eyes switched his concentration from the water to Hermione, their eyes locking.

"Sorry, who are you? You look _very_ familiar, as if I've seen you before, but not here. In my life. Please tell me your name." Hermione was about to open her mouth, when he raised a finger, showing her to stop. "No, tell me from where you know me first. I need some entertainment for my last day here." He smirked, as Hermione gulped.

"At Hogwarts. We went to Hogwarts together, but you were a couple years my senior."

"Did I know you? Personally?" he asked, raising an arched eyebrow, as Hermione blushed.

"Not really... Many people knew me for hanging out in the library a lot and going to the Yule ball with a famous Quidditch player..." She blushed, muttering off, averting her eyes. Even though she was a year older than him now, he was still as handsome as ever and still made her blush like a Hufflepuff. **(HA! Didn't notice that coincidence!)**

"Is that really you? Hermione Granger? My, my. You've really grown up into a fine young lady." He crossed his arms and leaned back, giving her a winning smile. "I heard rumours that you and two other girls were coming, so we would be free, but I never believed it. I thought Weasley was just trying to pull another prank on me." He smirked, as Hermione laughed cheerfully, sitting down beside him.

"So Fred does get around here?"

"Oh, yes. Pranks everyone, has the time of his life. Obviously, he's not the same without his twin, but he's particularly happy about going back now."

"And you," Hermione looked at him curiously. "Aren't you happy? Everything's going to change now! You're going to live a peaceful life now, nothing haunting you! Everything will change." Hermione soothed him.

At this, Cedric gave out a ringing laugh, as clear as a waterfall, with even slight bitterness. "Peaceful now? Granger, don't forget, half the school was haunting me down since third year. It's impossible. So I enjoy this as much as I can. You're lucky – you're going to see my father young. That will be a pleasant surprise for you."

"Why?" Hermione grinned at him, while he tried to hide his smile.

"No reason at all." He smirked, as the brunette pouted. Now, it was much comfortable to talk to Cedric Diggory, in comparison to how it was like in her fourth year, when at the slightest compliment she would flush crimson. But now, she had grown up and everything was completely different.

"So what exactly is this place?" she asked curiously, looking at a couple of people walking by.

"This is more of the prep place for going back. There're loads of people here, but you just haven't seen them. Some of us have been released earlier, I have no idea why. But here you will find all the deceased dating back to '77." He told her, as she nodded and a boy who looked like a sixth year ran by them, snapping a picture of them.

"Here you go! No taxes at all." He said, shoving the photo in Hermione's arms, who opened her mouth in shock, and before she could say anything he cut her off again. "Blimey! You're Mione Granger! Happy to see you Mione! I'm Colin Creevey – remember me? Heard you're saving the world, only without Harry now. Still didn't get his signature. Pitty about that. Well, best be going! Still have lots of orders to make!" he exclaimed, as he ran off leaving a shocked Hermione and snickering Cedric.

"Wow. He's still the same, isn't he?"

"Oh yes." Cedric smirked, nodding his head. "He's bouncing around everywhere, taking pictures. Remember him in only his first year? Adorable kid he was."

"He's still adorable." Hermione cooed, as Cedric snorted.

"Hello, Hermione. Hello Cedric." An airy voice said, and Hermione knew who it belonged to.

"Hello." Cedric said politely, bowing his head.

"Hey Luna." Hermione said, looking at her expectantly. "Oh, Merlin, is it that time already? We still need to get packed. Lord what am I going to do? It was nice seeing you, Cedric. See you in... around, I guess..." she smiled, as he gave her a hug and said his goodbyes to the two girls and they ran off.

They ran past various people, Ginny and Fred talking intently about something, but Luna tugged her along. "We haven't got much time! Soon we'll be sent back. We need to pack. Our things are already on our beds. We need your bags and then we'll be able to sort everything out when we get there." She spoke smoothly, but urgently.

* * *

**So this is how the tables were arranged starting from the top going clockwise – Dumbledore, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ginny, Hermione, Luna, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw.**

**Okaay, and I've always actually wanted Hermione to be together with Cedric, when I read the fourth book, so I included this part here too. I remember I started writing a Cedmione fic two years ago out on paper and found it a month ago :P hahaha it was hilarious. **

**Also, I'm sure that a lot of you do too, but I feel REALLY bad for Colin Creevey, because he still didn't get a signature from Harry, and died in the Deathly Hallows. **

**Spells:**

**_Resilio Militus – shrunken soldier  
Intersaepio Salus – block off safety_**

**Thanks SO much for the reviews again :) to TsukiyoTenshi, loves2readalways, lovinxoxo, BrightestWitchOfHerAge16, Terrence Rogue, and Shalala. **

**Remember reviews are highly appreciated! :))) **

**Love to everyone everywhere!x**

**Girl . x . Marauder  
(Daria)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Not mine at all… except a couple of people! :D Something to be proud of. **

**How're you guys doing? Life's great! Getting busier and busier by the weeks, but surprisingly still find time to write :) Guess it takes my mind off of things and drags me into another world. **

**Anyways, thank you to my magnificent readers, and reviewers, all included. Thanks a ton to TsukiyoTenshi, lovinxoxo, LadyRainDancer, Terrence Rogue, BrightestWitchOfHerAge16, Black Lucy, Guest, and hummingpetal.**

**Enjoy the chapter! :)**

* * *

They ran up the stairs and straight into their rooms. Not noticing the enchanted ceiling which had sparrows flying and chirping, singing their beautiful songs, Hermione ran into her room, throwing a variety of things on her bed – her potions kit, a couple (and when she meant a couple, it meant around a dozen) books, the Marauders' Map and Harry's Invisibility cloak, which she found on her bed when she entered, a picture of her, Harry and Ron, which rested on her bedside, and a miniature version of her door in a picture form. Then, she threw a couple of other things on her bed and started shoving everything inside her small, famous beaded bag.

Next, she went to Luna's and then Ginny's room. Finally, Ginny came into her room where Luna and Hermione were lying on her bed, discussing something. Ginny's room was in various shades of pink, with a couple blues here and there, which highly reminded Hermione of Ginny's old room at the Burrow – her favourite place.

The place where they shared so many secrets, discussed attractive guys in Hogwarts, their crushes, everything that happened at school, discussed their Christmas present and 'top secret information not for the ears of her brothers' and many other things.

"Hey guys." Ginny came in, her eyes still a little bit puffy and red, but less irritated. "I see you've packed everything." Hermione and Luna muttered in agreement.

Suddenly, three sets of clothes appeared magically in the air – three sets of 70s-80s clothes. Hermione groaned at what they looked like; even though she didn't have the best sense of fashion, wearing hippie and tight rock clothes would he pretty weird for the first while, but then she would have to get accustomed to it. On the contrary, Ginny and Luna started laughing and giggling, choosing out a pair of clothes.

The clothes which were meant for Luna suited her _very_ well, because everyone was used to it! Luna was wearing a tie-die haler top with white skinny jeans and polka dog flats.

"The style suits you very well." Ginny commentated giddily, trying on the flared green skirt with and white shirt with bit Gothic letters spelling out "ROCK". Also, Ginny being, well Ginny, she squealed when she saw the pair of green wedges underneath the whole outfit.

The only choice Hermione had was the only one left. It was a tight black t-shirt with the name "The Sex Pistols" written on it, and tight black skinny-jeans with high leather boots, going up to her knee and dark sunglasses. Hermione rolled her eyes, thinking of how amused her father was right now, rocking in his chair, trying not to fall out, but the she performed the spell and mentally laughed at _him_.

Grumbling, Hermione put on the t-shirt, but decided that it suited her nicely. Not being a fan of jeans going up nearly to your bellybutton, she shortened them so that they reached her hip, and after all, she didn't mind wearing the whole outfit at all.

"How do I look?" She smirked, turning around, and pushing her glasses a little down the bridge of her nose.

"Very seductive and rebellious." Ginny winked, doing a cat call, as Hermione strutted around the room.

"From what I've heard," Luna smiled, adjusting her clothes. "That's how Sirius Black looked when he was a teenager. I think that you'll make a very nice couple." She said in her normal _I-snort-grounded-unicorn-horns-for-breakfast-no-big-deal, _and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"It's Harry's godfather we're talking about Luna. That's just wrong."

"He won't be Harry's godfather back then." Ginny pointed out. "Face it, Hermione. And admit it; you said that Sirius Black was sexy, when he stayed at Grimmauld Place."

"I never—" Hermione blushed, but Ginny nagged her.

"Yes you did."

"Maybe."

"Yes."

"Anyways. I think we should get going down." Luna said airily, practically skipping out the door, as Hermione and Ginny followed, pocketing their wands.

After saying goodbye to their beautiful rooms and the enchanted ceiling, they finally got down to the hall, where the four founders were standing, waiting for them. They walked forward, and stopped a couple meters in front of the adults.

"Now," Rowena started, dead serious. "You will all have cover-up stories. You families are the some of the oldest families in the whole History of Magic, along with the Blacks, the Potters and some others. Now, your parents have been gruesomely murdered, but you were homeschooled because you were so wealthy. Dumbledore doesn't know anything – no one does, so you have to play along, especially with all those purebloods who will see you in Diagon Alley.

In any case, we will each give you a parchment about your parents, family, and everything else. Don't tell anyone about your cover. You will be on the newspaper, and we have already made arrangements. Each one of you has plenty of money in your family vaults and you will be given your keys along with your parchments. Now, you will have to stay at Diagon Alley for a while, and then you will be able to go to Hogwarts by Hogwarts Express. You can purchase everything you need in Diagon Alley.

As soon as you get to Hogwarts, you will go on the boats with the first years and be sorted. Then, you will continue your normal lives, make friends, do whatever. But you know why you're there. We have faith in you, and you can do it."

Everyone stared at each other. Then Hufflepuff coughed, and everyone wandered pointlessly, saying their goodbyes, hugging and promising things.

Helga gave Hermione a big Weasley hug, telling her to be safe and smart as she's always been, and other warm things, which no one could say as warmly as her. Slytherin grunted something to Hermione, which sounded like "Good luck", but all Hermione could do was roll her eyes and back away from him.

Then, Godric approached Hermione, alongside Rowena and they smiled at her, looking deep into her eyes. "You have been brave, Hermione. Let's hope you will be as brave as you have been and will please us all. Make us happy, Mione." Rowena smiled kindly, which was not a reoccurring thing to see.

"Thanks, mum."

"You know, kid? I think the 70s and 80s fashion suits you well. The Sex Pistols especially." He grinned eyeing his shirt.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but smiled nevertheless. "Thanks, dad." She hugged them both and then the three girls made their way to the center of the room.

They stood in a circle and took their hands, as all the four founders stood around them in a bigger circle. Luna, Hermione and Ginny looked at each other reassuringly, and then all three of them closed their eyes, letting the magic sink into the pores of their skins.

"_Reversi Pretioso Tempus, Reversi Pretioso Tempus, Reversi Pretioso Tempus_._"_ the founders all started chanting, while waving their wands and walking around in a circle around the girls. Hermione felt he magic engulfing her, overwhelming her, and suddenly the three of them opened their eyes and found themselves on a small dark street.

"Where are we?" Ginny asked, glancing around, looking through the little windows, which were all curtained and dark.

Hermione and Luna shrugged, looking at each other, but then something caught the blonde's eye. "Look, guys..." she pointed at the wall where there was a black and white poster entitled "**_Have You Seen This Wizard_**" with a picture of Tom Riddle, and underneath a small description.

The brunette laughed dryly, going into character. "Of course I do, he killed my whole family a couple of days ago." She snapped, as Luna and Ginny nodded in sad agreement. Hermione sighed, brushing stray hairs away from her face. "Come on. Let's find where we are, and hopefully find a place where to spend the night. Where do you reckon we should go?" she asked, pointing to either side of the narrow alleyway.

The sharp grunting noise came from one side... getting closer and closer. A cruel, rasping noise which sent shivers all over the girls' arms.

"I believe the better way is that one." Luna said calmly, even though inside she wasn't as calm, but not scared. Probably jumpy from the road. "We've faced worse than a rasping noise, but just in case, I think that the other way will be better." She ushered them out, as Ginny nearly tripped on her heels.

The curved street was going on and on, the dirty alleyway filled up with the disgusting stench of sewers, rat poison and mold, which made the teens walk even faster.

"There!" Ginny exclaimed, pinching her nose, pointing to a bit of light at the end of the alleyway. They climbed up the narrow steep staircase and climbed out into the glorious, shining street of Diagon Alley.

Diagon Alley looked completely the same as the girls had seen it the first time they entered it. Of course, the last time they were there together, it was more or less fixed after Voldemort's constant attacks, but wasn't the same. They walked calmly down the alley, Hermione in the middle, clutching her beaded bag with her life, Ginny and Luna on her sides.

Whispers were heard all around them, people covering their mouths and pointing at them, while walking by. Luna looked at all of them coolly, her blue eyes scurrying around, turning down curious ones.

"Nosy, aren't they?" Luna smirked in Hermione's ear, who raised her eyebrows and nodded feverenly, a smile tugging on her lips, but the same stony expression remained on her face.

"I guess they weren't really joking about the newspapers." Ginny added, looking at them, as they nodded.

"When did you ever see my mum joke? 'Cause it's honestly a rare sight; we were there for seven days and she didn't even crack a single one." The brunette said, as they passed a balding old wizard with a nicely trimmed snow white beard and bright green eyes.

He approached Hermione and the girls somberly, taking off his hat and fixing his robes a little bit. "I am very sorry for your losses, Miss. White. I was a close friend of your parents, and they loved you very much. Same goes for you, Miss. Thorn, Miss. Evergreen. Remember that there are always people ready if you need any help." She smiled warmly, placing a hand on Hermione's arm, who pulled away.

"I thank you for your condolences, sir. It is very kind of you. Of course, if anything happens, I will of course contact someone close to help me feel warmer, but for now Miss. Thorn and Evergreen are with me at all times, providing me with all the comfort I need." She said coolly, her usually warm brown eyes moulded into a dark, almost black shade.

"Of course, Miss. I understand. It was nice seeing you again." He nodded his head, before retreating. The girls looked around at all the people frozen around them.

"Enjoyed the show, I believe?" Ginny snapped at them, as they quickly rushed off, sneaking glances at the 'distraught' girls.

"That was very cold of you, Hermione." Luna whispered, as Hermione shrugged.

"Our parents just died, we're supposed to be."

"I didn't say I saw disagreeing with your attitude. It was very... ah... natural. But do remember that we are goodly raised pureblooded children who know their manners." She replied, and Hermione heard the smirk of her face and rolled her eyes and the blonde.

Soon, the three of them entered the Leaky Cauldron, since they would need to stay someplace over night. In the duration of fifteen minutes, a couple other people came up to them, giving their condolences and reminding the girls of happier times. Hermione, as her friends suggested, acted calmer, and more distraught, since the questions and conversations were usually with her.

Walking between the tables, they went to Tom, the barman.

"Good afternoon, Tom." Hermione smiled at him, as he raised his head from his work, and sadly smiled at her.

"Good afternoon, Miss. White."

"Oh, please. Do call me Hermione. Miss. White makes me sound as if I'm being addressed as my mother, and you do know how that makes me feel at this time." She raised her eyebrows sadly, as he nodded in agreement.

"Of course, Miss. Hermione. Would you like a room for overnight stay after your long journey from the _Golden Hearth_?"

"Yes please, Tom. Can we get a slightly bigger one? Luna and Ginny will be staying with me for the time being, before we leave for Hogwarts on the first. So, please book the room for two weeks, if you can."

"Of course." He nodded sympathetically, and led them upstairs to their room.

The room itself wasn't too grand, but what exactly could you expect from the Leaky Cauldron. It would be a satisfactory place to spend two weeks, right before school started, and in comparison to Hermione's previous camping and traveling experience, this seemed like the best five-star hotel they would ever find.

By the time they finished unpacking, it was already dark and somber outside, with no reason to go out, except to get a butterbeer, but everyone was exhausted from their journey. A newspaper, the Daily Prophet was lying on one of the bedside tables.

"Hermione, look what I found." Ginny called her over, as Luna came over as well, wearing a pair of radish earrings, which she found in the forest during their Magical Creatures and Plants class. The radishes served a purpose and for once, Hermione approved – they first and foremost glowed in the dark, and lost their colour, turning black when a dark force was nearby.

She carefully came over and picked up the newspaper. On the front, along with news about _"You-Know-Who" _destroying a couple villages in Eastern Ireland, the Minister of Magic retiring, there was a small footnote at the bottom of the page.

_"Hermione White – Young Victim to Young Losses? Read the whole article by Rita Skeeter on page 9."_ Hermione read out loud, rolling her eyes and recalling the scandal she had with her in her fourth year.

"Come on Mione." Ginny smirked. "This better be good." She plopped back onto one of the beds, as Hermione glared at the girl, the glare, which would usually send everyone running, but surprisingly didn't affect Ginny and Luna.

"Why, don't you look cheery today?" Luna smirked, as Hermione smacked her forehead and groaned full heartedly, and flipped to page nine.

"_The Heartbreaking Story of Hermione White._

_On Tuesday, August 16__th__, the great wizard town of _Golden Hearth_, which is inhabited by a couple of the greatest wizarding families, was attacked by You-Know-Who himself. The dark wizard is on the lookout for followers, and managed to slide into _Golden Hearth_ to try and convince the White, Thorn and Evergreen family to join him._

_Not losing their dignity and pride, the three pairs refused and were pulled into a deadly duel with You-Know-Who and his followers. That same evening, the White family called the other two, who are all known for their tight heartwarming relationship, into a meeting, while their girls were up in Hermione White's room. _

_Hermione White is a beautiful witch with charming chocolate brown eyes, soon to be 18 in September, with stunning long brown locks cascading down her back to the small of her back. Her professors have noted that she is the brightest witch of her age, surely to be a whole new revolution to the wizard society. _

_When hearing the bloodcurdling scream of her brave parents, Hermione White leaped out of her room, trying to help but whoever was left of the courageous Thorn family rushed her off, telling her to run to London. The three charming witches made vascular escapes on their quality-made broomsticks, taking only what they needed for survival. _

_Now, two days after this heartbreaking incident, Hermione White, along with her two orphaned friends promenade along Diagon Alley searching for a place to stay. It is hard to find yourself in such a large city, especially if the girls were homeschooled by the best professors in England. The exasperated young girls trudged along Diagon Alley, conversing with a couple of passersby wizards. _

_"Oh, young Hermione seemed so tired and sad. I hope she'll be all right! At first she was a little bit snappy, but then answered a couple of questions, as she got escorted by her two friends." A shopper at Diagon Alley reported to Skeeter. _

_The girl's eyes are probably still engulfed by the horrifying image of her deceased parents. She must be suffering a big deal, and I, Rita Skeeter am more than happy to try and find her in Diagon Alley, as she is staying there for the next two weeks before her departure to Hogwarts, the greatest school of Witchcraft and Wizardry._"

Hermione finished, throwing the paper on the bed on top of Ginny, who was in a fit of giggles. "Eyes—engulfed—horrifying—image—hilarious." She burst out laughing, and Luna joined in with her. "I don't think she's gonna be too happy once you talk to her tomorrow."

"Oh no she won't." Hermione narrowed her eyes, and Ginny still continued stifling laughter, her face all red, as she continued dying on the bed. Hermione couldn't help it and the three of them lay down on the bed laughing about the ridiculous report. It seemed that Skeeter's writing hadn't changed over the years either, and she continued writing bollocks in the paper.

Finally, the girls stopped and got to their own beds, but Hermione went to the writing paper, taking out parchment and a quill from her beaded bag.

Curiously, Luna hopped over to her and peered over her shoulder. "What are you writing?"

"Hermione's writing something?" Ginny asked, running over and standing on the other side of Hermione, their hair hanging down.

"I'm writing a letter to Dumbledore for our school supplies. I'm sure he'll have three extra spots in Hogwarts, especially due to our condition." She said, continuing her letter in her beautiful loopy writing.

"_To Professor Dumbledore of Hogwarts,_

_As you have most likely heard, I, Hermione White, as well as my friends Luna Thorn and Ginerva Evergreen have a struggle due prior losses, about which you must've heard. We were wondering if you have a spot in your seventh year for three  
students? _

_If you do, may you be helpful to send us the list of material we shall need for the school year. We will be very grateful for everything you do for us. My dear parents always said that you were the smartest and wittiest wizard in Hogwarts, and you will be able to do something for us whenever we need help. _

_Thank you so much,_

_Hermione White, Ginerva Evergreen and Luna Thorn."_

She read contently, as Luna snorted and Ginny stared in horror at the paper.

"Why do you write so much Hermione?" Luna asked curiously. "You couldn't just write 'Dumbledore, we need a spot in Hogwarts, send the list, thanks'?" Hermione opened her mouth to protest when Ginny burst out, her face red.

"Ginerva?! You know how much I _hate_ that name! Change it back!" she exclaimed, trying to grab the paper from Hermione's hands, who already got up and started heading out the door.

"Sorry, Ginny. Payback for laughing at the newspaper report." She smirked, peeking out and then slamming the door behind her, and Ginny fell down on the bed exasperatedly.

"It _was_ pretty funny... Don't you agree, Luna?" she whinnied, as Luna laughed, gracefully plopping down right next to her.

"In that case, that was pretty amusing. But if that Skeeter woman wrote something wrong about Magical Creatures, she would really regret writing it. Imagine what false information she would write about them? Heliopaths and Blibbering Humdingers..."

"That's why they write about those only in the Quibbler." Ginny smirked, rolling over on her stomach, as Luna giggled.

"Ah, _touché!_"

Hermione ran out of the Leaky Cauldron, and ran through the still crowded streets of Diagon Alley, but now, unlike the daytime the crowd consisted much more of adults going to clubs and bars, unlike everyone else during the day. She was happy that it was dark, so that no one really recognized her and wouldn't bravely start a conversation.

Walking into post office, which was located on the other side of Diagon Alley, she inhaled the smell of... mixed parchment and owl dung. The brunette walked up to the man at the booth, who was rearranging letters and putting stamps on some of them – placing them into individual piles. Two weeks before September seemed like a very busy time in the post office.

"Hello, sir." Hermione greeted him, walking up to the booth, and placing the letter onto the table. "I would like this to be delivered to Albus Dumbledore at Hogwarts. And urgently please." She asked him with a small smile.

The man lifted his head up and inspected her, slowly rubbing his chin, his white beard falling down below the booth, his glasses on a slant. "Of course, Miss. For the urgent call, that will cost you four galleons, ten sickles and three knuts." He told her, as she handed him the money. "Thank you very much, Miss."

"Sir, once you get the reply, could you please redirect it to the Leaky Cauldron? Room 493 please."

"That will be done."

Hermione nodded and began to walk away, as he called her back. "Excuse me, Miss. I'm not trying to be rude or anything, just curiously. You understand, of course. Are you the one erm—Hermione White, am I correct?" he asked her and Hermione smiled at him, knowing that the man didn't mean any harm.

"Yes, sir. That would be me."

He smiled nicely at her, extending his hand. "It's very nice to meet you, Miss. Don't mind what Skeeter writes in the papers. A load of bollocks if you ask me. Only got her a while ago."

Hermione laughed, her laugh ringing across the room. "Thank you, Mr...?"

"Mr. Strokes."

"Mr. Strokes," she nodded. "I will keep that in mind, and will ignore whatever she writes. Have a good evening."

Walking out into the alley, she hurried back into the Leaky Cauldron where she would not be bothered by anyone except for Ginny and Luna. But two people were easy to take on. All she needed now was sleep.

The flashing lights were keeping everyone awake, as someone set off fireworks in the middle of the whole place, and everyone started clapping and cheering. A smile even played across Hermione's dusty rosy lips, and blush creeping up her face from all the heat and excitement. Finally, she climbed up the stairs to her room and fell down on her bed passing out instantly.

~OoOoO~

_"Harry!" Hermione groaned, as she saw him running away from her. "Harry, come back! This isn't a joke! Please, don't leave me!"_

_Harry glanced back, but continued running away. She was left alone. All alone in what looked like the Forest of Dean. The trees were in a circle around her, their branches swooping low, and the cold, sharp night wind blowing away leaves. The clouds moved away, exposing the black, starry sky with a full moon above. _

_From what seemed to be several miles, Hermione heard a long aggressive howl... the howl of a werewolf. She had nowhere to go – the trees created a pit around her, and the howling got closer and closer, sending goose bumps up her skin. _

_There was a rustling the bushes behind her, and everywhere! A pair of yellowy eyes shined right in front of her, a deep, low growl coming. _

_"I see you have found me! I thought that I would have to find you eventually..." a voice sounded from behind her, as she jumped up, to see Voldemort with the same snake-like face as he had before he was killed. _

_"Now will you join me? Or die like you parents..."_

_"I will _never _join you and your snaky followers."_ _Hermione growled in reply, looking for her wand, which she kept at all times, but it wasn't anywhere near. _

_"Oh, then... I guess you will have to suffer something worse... far worse..."_

_He raised his wand and yelled "CRUCIO!" and a scream escaped her lips. _

But right before she got hit, the image changed.

_Now she was in a green meadow with beautiful white daisies scattered around like leaves during autumn. The grass was lush green; a green which could match Lily Evans' eyes, as Harry had once described them. The sky was filled with a couple soft clouds, which didn't even look real, but had to be. The sun was gaily shining, lighting up the beautiful country side. _

_The cool summer breeze blew, rustling the grass, and blowing Hermione's hair all over the place: in her face and all around her. _

_A couple meters in front of her stood a girl: a girl who looked fourteen or fifteen years old. There was something vaguely familiar about her, but Hermione couldn't put her finger on it – it was as if she had seen her in a dream... or in a strange illusion. She was dressed in a white strapless sundress, laughing and smiling, her two long blond braids falling down on her chest, nearly reaching her midriff. _

_She skipped towards Hermione, grabbing her hands and spinning her around and around. Even Hermione herself couldn't resist giggling along with the girl. Finally, Hermione realized what she was doing. As much as she wanted to continue skipping in this beautiful world, she had to understand why she was there and what was going on. _

_"Excuse me, but who are you?" she asked, as the girl glanced at her with her blue eyes, which were twinkling in the sun._

_"That I cannot tell you, child of the light. I am sorry, but it is one of the things I am not allowed to do in order to help you." She told Hermione sadly, and the brunette's expression went into a serious one. _

_"Then why am I here? What do you have to help me with?" she asked, not being able to contain, as the girl put a finger on her lips, and with just one look, Hermione felt soothed and calmer. _

_"You will have to figure that out yourself." And suddenly, the girl who seemed just a bit younger than her took the tone of a mature young adult. "You, the child of the light, must go to the sanctuary at first. That is where the journey begins."_

_"Journey?" Hermione asked, walking towards her. "What journey?" she continued asking her, but the girl silenced her. _

_"The faithful imagination you have along and sneaky fox shall aid you on the way. Although not careful the fox may be, nor she nor your imagination will parish or be lost."_

_Hermione was thoroughly confused. Fox? Imagination? But she didn't have any imagination, so how could this be accurate? But the girl continued. _

_"The light will face a dangerous quest – be careful on the way... for dark may harm and wound you much and you will be left to pay. Beware the fourth – the fourth is dangerous for both you and the others around. Whilst you are on this hearty quest, the fourth will be sneaking around." Emotion of warning was shown on her face, and all Hermione could do was nod earnestly, and gestured her to go on. _

_"The birth of Christ shall be the day, prior to which you must go. Search in the obvious spot of the line – everything was once hidden there. A couple months of rest will do no harm—"_

Tap! Tap! Tap!

_Hermione's dream was breaking up and the vision was starting to come apart. The girl looked worried and hurriedly continued, "But soon, you must go... go... when the hare hops to the silver moon, then you must go far to where the flighty swans strut in their sanctuary below. Dost you go to the third hiding, that is not needed of you.—"_

Tap! Tap! Tap!

_"Quick, Child of the light! You must go now, and we shall meet again. I need tell you the rest, for you to continue your quest." She exclaimed, holding her hand, about to say something, but then her image dissolved and..._

"Hermione, shut the bloody owl up! It's going to break the bloody glass if it doesn't stop this instant." She heard Ginny mumble angrily from her bed, and Hermione jumped up.

The two dreams were so strange... The first was less realistic, but the second was too much. It seemed like the girl was trying to tell her something, but she didn't finish saying what. She stood up, rubbing her eyes and going to the window. Ginny _was_ right. There was a tawny own sitting on the windowsill, furiously pecking the window.

"Shh, shh..." Hermione quieted it down, taking the letter from its beat and retrieving a piece of bacon from Ginny's bedside – a half eaten sandwich, which looked like it was purchased after her departure to the post office.

The own caught the piece of bacon in midair and gobbled it down as quickly as it caught it. Then, it hooted at Hermione, looking at her expectantly. Hermione took the letter, opening it to find the familiar green script, which stopped her heart.

_Dearest Hermione White, Ginny Evergreen and Luna Thorn, _

_Of course, you may come to Hogwarts! Hogwarts is a home when anybody asks for it. Your tickets are mailed here for platform 9 ¾ on September 1__st__, no later than 11 o' clock. _

_You will be attending seventh year, I presume, so you will need the following items:_

_Working Robes – ask Madame Malkin for extra details  
Two or three cauldrons, for N.E.W.T. classes (unless you have yours from home)  
Glass or Crystal phials  
One telescope  
One set of scales_

_You may bring an owl, cat or a toad, as well. _

_If you would like, you may also bring you Quidditch equipment. I have heard that the Whites and Evergreens enjoy flying very much. _

_Will you please send me a list of N.E.W.T. classes that both you, Miss. Thorn and Miss. Evergreen was to take this year, and I'll be happy to let Minerva McGonagall make your schedule, which will be handed to you during breakfast after your arrival. _

_I believe that is all. Once again, Hogwarts will be very happy to accept you._

_If you have any questions, once you get to Hogwarts, remember that I really do enjoy Ice Mice. _

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. _

Hermione grinned at Dumbledore. There would still be many cases when the three of them would have to visit Dumbledore to tell him about Riddle, the horcruxes, who to save and everything else. That would mean that the headmaster would become suspicious, if he realize that four teenage girls know when Order Members will die or where pieces of Voldemort's soul is hidden...

Quickly, she reached for her quill and parchment, quickly writing an answer.

_Thank you so much for accepting us. We are very happy and thankful that you have aided us to get spots in your school, especially due to the situation we are in now._

_I for one, will be taking Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Arithmacy, Muggle Studies, History of Magic and Herbology. Even though I understand that the necessities for an Auror are much less, by I would like to take all of these courses. _

_Luna will be taking Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Astronomy, History of Magic and Divination. _

_Ginerva will be taking Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic and Herbology. _

_Thank you once again for your support. _

_Hermione White _

She gave the letter back to the tawny owl, which hooted a goodbye and flew out the window, leaving nothing but a shining sun and a couple of scattered clouds, as well as the beautiful village coming alive.

Taking out her brush, Hermione walked into the bathroom and looked at her reflection. Of course, her hair was as messy as ever, but that was not the matter then. After finishing her hair and doing everything in the bathroom Hermione woke up Ginny and Luna... perhaps a little to violently because they needed to get all of their school supplies _and_ muggle clothes.

As Ginny mumbled something about taking revenge, they left the Leaky Cauldron taking only a coffee for each one of them, receiving and kind smile from Tom and surprised glances from other residents and passersby.

Finally, leaving the crowded Leaky Cauldron behind, the three of them headed on to muggle London to purchase muggle clothes. Ginny, as always, had her own taste of fashion and always commented on what the other girls chose. Even though it was less odd at this period, Luna stuck to her strange fashion persona, purchasing colourful shirts, sweaters, dresses and pants. Ginny took the initiative to pick out Hermione all her clothes, which she didn't mind, as well as her own.

Hermione practically owned the rocker outfit. Dark colours and high boots, tight shirts, pants; everything suited her nicely, even better than clothes had in their own time. It seemed that when time had changed, so had she because she didn't mind playing dress-up with Ginny and Luna.

After a couple of hours of shopping, which was all they needed, the three friends headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to drop off everything they purchased in muggle London, which was indeed a lot, taking in account that they also stopped by a shop to purchase three trunks, which they had to lug the rest of the way.

"Where to next?" Ginny asked, slowly sipping her Butterbeer, which they purchased at the Leaky Cauldron after finally unloading. They were walking down the alley, passing by different shops.

"I believe..." Hermione mumbled, scrambling around her purse, pulling out the list Dumbledore sent them. "We need to go to _Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment, Slug & Jiggers Apothecary, Potage's Cauldron Shop, _for cauldrons, phials, scales and everything else... If you need to restock on supplies, we can go to the apothecary. Then," she said, reading further down the list, "Oh, robes from _Madame Malkin's_. I think we should go here last. _Flourish and Blotts_, where we need to get all our N.E.W.T. level books. I have all our notes from previous years in here." Hermione patted her beaded bag, Ginny rolled her eyes and Luna interrupted her.

"What don't you have in there? You managed to squish everything you have in there." She smirked, as Hermione glared at her, putting and finger over her lips to show Luna to be quiet.

"I also want to get more parchment, quills and ink... because I really need it." Hermione continued, not lifting her eyes up, therefore not noticing Ginny making faces, but sensed her, jabbing her in the stomach with a finger.

She stopped and looked at the bottom of the list, eyeing it carefully, and then looking at Ginny. Luna peeked over at the list and started roaring out in laughter. Ginny groaned rubbing her stomach and looked at the two girls, who both wore amused expressions on their faces. She raised an eyebrow.

"What?" she asked.

"I don't know, Luna. Does Ginny deserve to go here?" Hermione smirked as Luna grinned thoughtfully.

"I don't know, Hermione. She _has _been awfully naughty the last couple of days... You know... Misbehaving, not listening to you and even being a little mean." Luna winked, and Hermione who grinned wolfishly, and shrugged.

"Guess not." Ginny stopped them.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, putting one hand on each of their shoulders, to slow down their walked. She tried to grab the list from Hermione, but she quickly pulled it away and held it her back, constantly tossing it to Luna.

Finally, Ginny grabbed the paper and her eyes widened when she saw the bottom of the list. "Yes. We are _so_ going here. Come on Hermione, you know you want a broom too! I need a new pair of gloves as well."

"No, we're not getting new brooms." Hermione shook her head, while she pocketed the piece of paper and Ginny's jaw dropped the floor and she started stuttering, not being able to say a single word from the shock.

"B-b-but you can't. The-the no the Quid-d-ditch. You can't! You won't!" she shouted, drawing a couple of curious faces to them.

"Calm down Ginny." Hermione smirked. "I already have brooms." She laughed, hooking her arm through Luna's, and they skipped forward and Ginny remained standing there, dumbfounded, her mouth opening and closing like a fish's.

Once she came back to herself, her two friends had already skipped away, half way to Gringotts. She sprinted after them, not understanding what happened, brushing her red hair out of her face. Not paying attention to any of her surroundings, suddenly, she crashed into a tall someone's hard chest.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed, not even looking up to see who it was. "_So_ sorry!" She sprinted away, leaving the gapping teenager, and someone else's wolf-whistle followed.

Finally, she caught up with Hermione and Luna, who were going up the white marble stairs of the crooked Gringott's Wizard Bank. Just as they were about to go inside, Ginny shoved them aside, against the wall.

"What were you talking about? What do you mean you have brooms? How is that possible? You didn't leave or go shopping without us, did you?" The overexcited Ginny badgered her, bouncing up and down her hair flying behind her, and Hermione coolly leaned back against the cold marble.

"Easy there, Ginny. Remember those brooms we rode, when playing Quidditch with the founders?" she asked, and Ginny nodded eagerly, covering her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"The one she fell in love with?" Luna snorted, brushing her hair back, so that it didn't fall on her face.

"Don't tell me you did?" Ginny gasped, eyes shining with happiness, as Hermione nodded silently, as Ginny nearly fell back from happiness. "Why didn't you tell me? That is the _best_ broom I have ever ridden! I can't believe you."

Luna laughed, "That's because it was your _real_ punishment. She wasn't actually going to tell you until we got to Hogwarts, but her kind heart let her down." She sighed, shaking her head at Hermione, who answered cheerfully.

"But if I didn't tell her at the time, she would've gone and bough a Cleansweep for herself right now."

"Good point..." Luna nodded approvingly, ignoring Ginny, who's eyes were still shinning and she was in the stage of silent shock, not being able to saw anything, only jumping around and gripping the girls' shoulders.

"Come on now, Gin. Let's get some money from our vaults." Hermione nudged the dumbfounded Ginny, who nodded and silently followed the two in front, still undergoing her fits of happiness.

They walked down the long, lamp-lit aisle, the high desks filled with goblins, as they had always been. Knowing that Goblin could be very aggressive, the girls didn't look at any of them – only forward. Piles of gold galleons shimmered, playing in the lamplight on each one of the goblins' desks, as they wrote down numbers and counted the money.

Getting to the end of the alley, where a couple of goblins were seated, Hermione reached into her bag, drawing out three golden keys, given to her by one of the founders. The goblin looked up, its hooked nose holding his golden rimmed glasses.

"Yes, Miss?"

"We wish to enter out vaults." Hermione said bravely, ignoring the pointy teeth it exposed when talking. "That means the White vault, the Evergreen and the Thorn vault."

"Do you have the key?" it asked in its calm, but deadly voice, as Hermione gulped, but nodded bravely, holding out three of the keys. The goblin examined her carefully and asked one of the other goblins to lead the three of them to their vaults.

Of course, as they had expected, the vault were deep down, as they passed the enchanted waterfall and trudged deeper and deeper. They went even further than they had for the Lestranges' vault, when they had to steal Hufflepuff's cup.

Once they arrived, the vaults were right beside each other, and just like the Lestranges' there were various enchantments, including the dragon, the multiple locks and a couple other poisonous and deadly spells.

"Luckily we won't have to rob any of these vaults." Luna said dreamily, as the goblin gave them an odd look.

Once again, Ginny nearly died of happiness when she saw what her 'parents' left for her. The Weasley vault had nearly nothing inside, because their family wasn't the richest, feeding seven children and two adults, but of course, each of the girls expected a lot less than they actually got in the vaults, and that was only half of their day in Diagon Alley.

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**Aaaaaand that is all for wonderful chapter five! Ah, time passes by quickly doesn't it?**

**Spells:  
**_Reversi PretiosoTempus – Reverse Precious Time_

**Oh and did you all like the riddle I added in there? Adding more of a deep plot, and that's not even half of it yet! I spent such a long time actually writing it, brainstorming word connections and stuff… Can't believe it… Anyone wanna try cracking it? I don't think I would even be able to do it on first try.**

**Also, the name of the village where Hermione lived was also pretty difficult to decide. I wanted to make it something like my inspiration (Godric's Hollow), but decided to use Golden. **

**Basically it was a long list of choices. You'll laugh – a couple were Golden Lair, Golden Ring, Golden Den, Golden Dwelling, Golden Crib, Golden Stable (LOOOL crazy), Golden Hearth, Golden Hallow, Golden Hollow, Golden Village, Golden Droplet. I know. I'm weird. But I narrowed it down and it was all good. **

**Many of you are probably a smidget pissed, because you were hoping to find out about the Marauders in this chapter, but what you DON'T know is that we've already had a slight glimpse of them ;) did anyone catch it?**

**Anyways, thanks SO much to everyone, for reading! Suggestions? Corrections? Opions, or comments? Please review, you guys are amazing!x**

**Wholehearted love,**

**Girl . x . Marauder  
(Daria)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Even after everything I've done, I still own nothing. **

**Soooooo! Already autumn in the yard, huh? Can't believe time goes by so quickly! Ohh, funny story – I was walking to my bus stop at probably 7: 15 or earlier, and there was a woman walking her dog, and she comes up to me and she's like "your hair is sooo beautiful", and my reaction was priceless.. I guess I didn't get too many compliments before. Eh. Whatever. **

**Anyways, thank you SOOO much for all the reviews! You guys are great!**

**Also, good job :) indeed it ****_was_**** one of the Marauders who Ginny ran into, and I'm so happy I have such careful readers :P Remus was the one she ran into and Sirius (naturally) was the one who wolfwhistled. **

**Thank you to my wonderful reviewers, once again!: MystereRaven, China2009, TsukiyoTenshi, loves2readalways, crazyjr, SincerelyYourSecret, Terrence Rogue, casper22, hummingpetal, dancer4813, Mrs. Theodore Nott, Carebear114, BrightestWitchOfHerAge16, the guest, and last, but not least arabrabM. I love you!x**

**MystereRaven: I'm so pleased that you're enjoying it!x**

**TsukiyoTenshi: You were right! ;) **

**SincerelyYourSecret: Yeah, that's pretty accurate :P It could've been either one – James or Sirius, but James was kind of embarrassed from something that happened prior to the whole bumping in, and you'll find out in this chapter. **

**Terrence Rogue: Thank you! I really do try with the whole relationship part, even though it gets it gets a little bit hard by the end to include each one of them, and their characterization. And it was Sirius! Glad you liked it!**

**casper22: I'm happy to hear it :) I've always hated how people make fun of Luna too, and how they always push her around, so even thought I try keeping her in character, I also try to add a little sharpness, as you mentioned, to whoever disrespects her and everything else. Yeah, she's the complete opposite of Severus, and in this fic, as you noticed opposites attract ;)**

**Mrs. Theodore Nott: They will get their butts to Hogwarts very soon :) hahax**

**BrightestWitchOfHerAge16: Thanks! It took a while. At first I kindof wanted Hermione to not be completely into the rocker persona, but in the end I decided, "why not?"**

* * *

**"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." ― Dr. Seuss**

* * *

In the end, after they got out of Gringott's, they split up; Ginny and Luna went to the _Slug & Jiggers Apothecary_, _Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment _and _Potage's Cauldron Shop_, to get everything for potions and other subjects, and Hermione darted to _Flourish and Blotts_ to get everyone's books, narrowly escaping a hunting Rita Skeeter.

Walking into the bookstore felt like a breeze to Hermione – here they had whatever school books you could ever dream of: multiple editions of _Hogwarts, a History, _Transfiguration and Spell books, Potion books and many more. Hermione remembered the year they had to get the _Monsterous Book of Monsters_ and what a fuss was created for the assistant.

She walked around and lingered for a bit, touching some of the books she didn't see there in her day, but then got straight to work, and she was sure that it would take a while.

Walking to the Transfiguration aisle, she got three editions of Transfiguration Books (N.E.W.T. level for everything, of course), three sets of Charms books, three for Potions, another three for Care of Magical Creatures, obviously three for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and two more sets of three for History of Magic and Herbology. By this time, she already took a bag, which they had for use, for free, cast an Undetectable Extension Charm and dragged all the books to chose the individual subjects. Two more editions for Astronomy followed, one more for Divination, for Luna, and a Muggle Studies book.

But there was something missing. Hermione counted them again and she got only twenty five books. Strange... she was missing one more.

Walking down the aisles, she searched what she might've been missing and then she stumbled across it – Arithmancy! How could she forget that one? It _was_ one of her favourite subjects, and she almost forgot to purchase it.

She went down the aisle and put her bag of multiple books down. Arithmancy... arithmancy... ah! There is was. It was on the top shelf, taunting her. Hermione didn't seem tall enough to reach it, even though she was a little taller than average, and tried to reach it by standing on her toes, but it didn't work. One... more stretch!

Her fingers nearly touched the bottom, slipping it out, when one of her ankles gave in and she toppled to the side, clumsily knocking over her bag of books and crashing into someone, who grabbed her by the waist and steadied her out.

"Careful, there." Hermione heard someone say. This voice seemed vaguely familiar, and as Hermione turned around she saw it – sandy blonde hair, beautiful amber eyes. She had just bumped into a younger version of Remus Lupin.

"Sorry 'bout that." She murmured, turning a little red in the face from the fact that she couldn't imagine seeing a happy Lupin again. She knelt down to try and collect the books, which were now scattered around the aisle in an untidy pile. "I was just reaching for one book, and, well, too short I guess. Don't think of me very calm when it comes to books." She laughed a little bit as he chuckled.

Remus knelt down to help her collect her books, smiling warmly. "Blimey, why do you need so many books? There must be around twenty in here?" his eyes widened and eyebrows lifted as she smirked a little bit.

"Twenty five." She corrected, as his jaw dropped, and she giggled a little bit. "_That_ one," she pointed to the Arithmancy book on the shelf, grinning down at her evilly, almost taunting her and laughing. "Was supposed to be the twenty sixth."

"Why—"

"Oh, no! No! It's not just for me! Don't think of me too much of a bookworm, even though I am considered as a pretty major one!" she laughed loudly, continuing to pile up books into the bag. "I'm purchasing for my friends as well. I'm doing ten subjects this year, one of my other friends is going nine and the other is doing seven."

"What year are you going into?" He asked curiously, as she finished piling them up.

"Seventh. N.E.W.T. level classes."

"Ten N.E.W.T. classes!? Even I'm not taking that many classes this year, and my friends consider me a bookworm." He gapped at her, eyes filled with surprise, but at the same time admiration. It seemed that Hermione was the smartest person of his age he had ever talked to, excluding Lily Evans.

"I'm taking Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, Astronomy, Muggle Studies and History of Magic. How many are you taking?" Hermione asked him, as Remus got up, and offered her his hand, which she took gratefully.

"Eight. Everything you are minus the Muggle Studies and Astronomy." He smirked, but then his face turned more curious. "I haven't seen you in previous years. Are you transferring, or have I just never noticed you before? You look kind of familiar..."

Hermione shook her head. "No... I haven't been to Hogwarts; it's actually my first year going here." Remus nodded understandingly, not asking why and Hermione realized that the gentle werewolf wouldn't go into the subject, especially if he sensed that she was a little jumpy from just talking to him about it.

"Now, to that book." He smirked, reaching up, not even needing to jump or stand on his toes. Remus reached up to around six foot three or six foot four, and it seemed pretty obvious that he was the tallest out of the Marauders, and Hermione only reached nearly the middle of his neck. He took the book, examined it, as his eyes widened happily, and put it in her bag. "You're taking Arithmancy as well?" his eyes lit up, and Hermione nodded eagerly.

"Yes, it's one of my favourite subjects and I wouldn't dare miss the N.E.W.T. level year of it. Are you taking it as well?" she asked, already knowing the answer because sometimes she discussed Arithmancy with Remus, back then known as Professor Lupin, when she stayed at Grimmauld Place.

"Same here." He nodded, smiling. "Not too many people are taking it this year – think it's a load of rubbish, but my friend and I, we're supposing a couple of the smartest in our year, and we're taking it. So I'll see you in that class right?" she smiled, and she nodded, thinking of Lily, who was probably the other person he was talking about.

"Along with seven others," She raised her eyebrows, smiling warmly, as she picked up the bag, heading towards the front desk.

But Remus, being a real gentleman picked it up for her and carried it over to the front desk, where the clerk started scanning everything; eyes wide open at the amount of books purchased. Hermione thanked her, putting everything in her beaded bag, as she walked of the shop, Remus on her side.

"Thank you, for helping me with... the book." She stuttered, and laughed a bit, remembering how stubbornly she stumbled, causing her unexpected meeting with one of the Marauders. "And everything else." She winked at him. "It was nice meeting you..." she looked at him suggestively, knowing that it would be too suspicious for a 'pureblood', bred in captivity, as she liked to call it, to know the name of someone she hadn't met or even seen before.

"Oh how rude of me. We had a whole conversation, not even knowing each others' names." He laughed loudly, as did she, but at the same time she was thinking. _"I know exactly who you are and what your name is..."_

"Remus Lupin at your service." He did an extravagant bow with a flourish, and got up, grinning at Hermione, who laughed along with him. This was not the same poor werewolf cornered and followed everywhere just because of his status. He was a happy man, no, a boy even, who was carefree but would soon be more and more cut off from the world... unless something was done.

"I'm Hermione—"

"OI! Moony!" she heard a voice from across the road and knew exactly to whom it belonged to. It was the same voice, which shouted at the portrait of Walburga, and cursed the Death Eaters, told her she was truly the smartest witch of her age, claimed that he never betrayed Lily and James Potter... Only his voice was younger, carefree and happy.

Her throat went dry, and face paled, as Remus eyed her curiously, about to ask a question. Glancing around, she saw a woman with a green feathered quill trailing her and a piece of parchment floating nearby. Skeeter. Rita Skeeter, coming to hunt down Hermione White for extravagant explanations and descriptions of her arrival in London and loss of her parents, which was _not _going to happen.

"Sorry! I really gotta go!" she exclaimed, grabbing her bag from him, pulling down her black t-shirt, the same one she wore the previous day. "Nice meeting you, Remus Lupin! I hope we'll see each other again before our lessons start!" she called out, running away, opposite of from where Rita Skeeter was coming. She felt sorry for the werewolf, but had to save her neck from being the front page article, and she couldn't face Sirius at that moment – she wasn't mentally prepared.

The first shop she saw – _Madame Malkin's_. Quickly, she darted in there, hiding behind shelves and racks of clothing placed all around the shop. Clutching her beaded bag, she stood in the far corner, peeking outside the window, when she heard the bell ring, meaning that another visitor had come it...

She heard heavy footsteps nearing, as she turned around to examine a couple of winter capes, hanging along the wall. The footsteps neared until they were right behind Hermione. She took a breath and spun around, ready to verbally attack the madwoman, when she found herself not facing a madwoman. Not even a woman at all, but a man.

The tall man, who looked a slightly thirty-five to forty years of age was standing in front of her. He was wearing expertly tailored black robes, dragon-hide boots, a ring on one of his fingers with what looked like a family crest embalmed on it, which was definitely a pureblood sign. His black hair, with a couple of silver strands was nearly shoulder length and wavy, an aristocratic smirk she had seen before on someone who looked very similar. His tall, built frame gave him away – she was definitely looking at one of the older Blacks.

"Hello, Hermione. Don't you remember me?" he smirked at her frightened expression, and she shook her head, a little bit confused.

"Sorry, sir... After all these days, everyone claims they know me, but honestly I don't remember or even know anyone." She laughed a little bit, as his smirk didn't go away. That arrogant Black smirk, which was unwipeable.

"Don't tell me you don't remember your dear Uncle Alphard?" he continued smirking at her, and something clicked in her head. In a matter of seconds, memories started to flow through her head – her family, her early years, playing Quidditch outside the White Manor, her extremely easy lessons and tutours, who pestered her any time she got a single questions wrong... her childhood and teenage life she had at the White Manor swam into her head.

"Oh, Uncle Alphard!" she exclaimed, as a memory swam up into her mind, how Alphard Black, one of the rejected Blacks, who were blasted off the 'noble' black family tree.

_It was a hot summer day, as she ran around and played with Luna and Ginny in the large garden... small drops from the fountain flying up and splashing against her face, making her shiver in delight and pleasure. Each of the girls looked young and careless, around the age of eight or nine. _

_"You're it, Luna!" Hermione giggled, running away and hiding behind the large rosebush, as Luna shrieked and started running after a bouncing Ginny. _

_"Hello, princess." A voice sounded from behind her. She spun around on her heel to see who addressed her to find one of her favourite people standing there, leaning against the fence, with arms open. _

_His dark black locks fell down to his shoulders, and framed his face perfectly, making his perfect aristocratic features seen – lifted up eyebrows, a straight nose, smooth lips and silvery-grey eyes, which really shined and stood out in the sunlight. He looked very young and handsome, probably in his mid-twenties, early thirties. _

_"Uncle Alphie!" she exclaimed, giggling and running up to him, throwing her arms around him into a big hug. She could hear him chuckle against her, and they pushing her away. _

_She looked up at him, curious chocolate brown eyes staring into his silvery ones, and hers were nearly tear-filled. He seemed cross with her, and she didn't want him to be cross with her – he could never be!_

_"How many times have I told you not to call me Alphie?" he asked, as a smirk played across his face. Relieved, Hermione giggled in a agreement. _

_"Many times, Uncle Alphie." _

_He raised an elegant eyebrow at her. "Only my nephew calls me Alphie. It's a childish name, but you're much mature than that, aren't you, princess?" as an answer Hermione nodded eagerly, bouncing around him and pulling on his deep high-class robes. _

"I've missed you so much!" she exclaimed, attacking him in a hug, as he chuckled, hugging her back. "Why haven't you come back to see me for such a long time, Uncle Alphard?" she mumbled against his chest, even so not letting go of him, for he was one of the things connected her and her parents most.

"I couldn't come along, princess. I just couldn't. Had too much work to sort out, I guess." He shrugged, pushing back a couple of locks of hair from his face, his face morphing into deep thought and concern. "Yes, lots of business. But here you are, and I've found you again. You've matured since the last time I saw you."

His stunning grey eyes wandered up and down her body, focusing on her chest and curves a little longer than usual. Noticing this, she blushed a light pink, because even though he might've been twenty or thirty years older than her, he was very good looking for an 'old man'. She slapped his arm, playfully and grinned in reply.

"And I see you haven't changed at all." She stuck up her nose, not looking at him, as he nudged her back. "But you've gotten a little old, Uncle Alphard. What is that I see? Silver hairs?" she giggled, playfully yanking the bottom of his hairs, as he rolled his eyes.

"No, princess," he said sarcastically, the arrogant Black smirk still playing on his lips. "I got it dyed silver, so that it could match my beautiful eyes. How could you not see the difference? So much for being the brightest witch of your age. But you are still, very beautiful, kitten. Or how did she say it? Ah yes," he cleared his throat "_Hermione White is a beautiful witch with charming chocolate brown eyes, something, something, something, with stunning brown locks cascading down her back to the small of her back._"

Groaning and jumping up down, Hermione covered her ears to stop Rita Skeeters words from coming back into her mind, making her wand to hex her all the way to Durmstrang. "Uncle, please don't recite that again! I've had enough people coming to me on the streets, gazing into my eyes and deciding that I'm mentally shaken or deprived."

Alphard barked out in laughed, nearly knocking over a basket of winter gloves over in the process. "It seemed as if you were running from her when I followed you in here. Did you actually think that I was her?" he raised his eyebrows, as Hermione blushed and squeaked.

"Maybe?" she averted her eyes, as Alphard bellowed in laugher.

"That's why it looked like you wanted to hex my bollocks off! I was actually scared for a moment; nearly had to draw my wand." His eyes widened in surprise, a young light still playing in his silvery orbs.

"But why are you here? In Diagon Alley?" Hermione asked, getting over the embarrassment, as she made her way up to Madam Malkin, still engaging in conversation with her beloved Uncle along the way.

"To buy myself another wand, because I'm eleven and it's going to be my first year at Hogwarts in two weeks." He squeaked as he tried to make an impression of an eleven year old, but coughed, his voice cracking in the process.

Hermione rolled her eyes and laughed, "Oh, Uncle, stop embarrassing yourself. We don't want that precious voice of yours to disappear now, do we?" she turned her head around, winking at him, while his face morphed into mock-horrification, and he put one hand on his chest.

"You wound me, Mione. I'm here with my nephew. Sirius Black. Remember him? The one I told you called me Alphie?"

Hermione nodded, averting her eyes. Now she had double the memories and still knew exactly who Sirius Black was, even though she had never seen him in his teenage years except on photographs.

"By the way, I need to introduce you two. You've heard stories about each other, but never met." He noted, scratching his head a little bit, as Hermione started to get fit into her robes. "Maybe afterwards? After this? Ah, but still you'll be together in Hogwarts. I'm pretty sure you'll become acquaintances then." He nodded, as Hermione did too.

The two of them continued chatting and recalling happy memories, while Hermione tried on her robes, and in the end purchased four pairs, just in case, a couple of gloves and two winter cloaks. They made their way outside, Alphard holding her bags for her, as they wandered around the alley, searching for Ginny and Luna.

There was a glint of Weasley red and Alphard spotted Ginny from afar, being much taller than Hermione. "Say, isn't that your friend, Ginerva?" he smirked, pointing over the crowds.

"Sorry, Uncle Alphard, I can't really see." She grit her teeth, looking over the crowd of people, jumping up and down to get a small view at least. And her Uncle was right; Ginny and Luna were waiting for them by the _Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour._ "And remember." She stood in front of him, blocking his path. "Don't call Ginny Ginerva. You _do_ remember how much she hates it..."

Alphard chortled, rolling his eyes. "Like the time she wanted to gut me with her wand, attacking me like a little savage? Um, yes. I _do_ remember that. Thank goodness she was small back then, not being able to cast any spells or truly having enough strength to gut me." He raised his eyebrows knowingly, as Hermione laughed at his expression.

"And now you see she's grown up, and can gut you much more physically than she could when she was eight. Kids always have a thing for you, don't they?" she laughed, jabbing him in the stomach, as he clutched it painfully and groaned.

"You see, princess," he managed through groans. "Firstly, you have become more violent." She shrugged at that, and it was true, all because of Voldemort. "And secondly, here's the catch – it's either kids adore me, like you, or kids can't stand me, like dear Ginerva."

Hermione raised her eyebrows in disbelief scoffing. "_Or_," she emphasized. "You get on their nerves the first time they meet you, and your relationship doesn't go as smoothly as you could ever wish for. And of course, I'm more violent. At times like these we are much more violent." She added sadly, finding the ground very interesting for some reason.

"Sorry, love." He patted her on the back. "I shouldn't have mentioned it."

They approached Luna and Ginny, who were now seated on a bench, Luna smiling giddily, and Ginny frowning, staring at Alphard, her eyes blocked by dark sunglasses. Giving Hermione her bags back, Alphard stood infront of her two girls expectantly, Luna jumping up first to greet him, as always.

"Hello, Mr. Black!" she exclaimed, as he took her hand, gently giving it a small peck, only like a true gentleman would.

"Nice to see you again, Luna, love." He smirked at her, as Luna did a very un-Luna-like thing, and blushed a light rose colour, and Hermione raised her eyebrows at this. Luna didn't usually notice the company of men, but as many of the Blacks were, Alphard was truly unresistable for any woman of any age.

His gaze passed from Luna, who sat down, cheeks a little bit pink, to Ginny, whose expression hardened, arms crossed over her chest and head tilted to the side. Her white sundress with yellow roses reflected light so much, it was even a little bit hard to look at her.

"Ginny, dear. Nice to see you again." He bowed his head at her, as she nodded back.

"Pleasure, Black." She said dryly, examining him carefully, still sitting down, as the other two girls watched the exchange in amusement.

"Come on, Ginny." Hermione groaned, grabbing her white hand in her own pale one. "Uncle Alphard is one of my favourite uncles, and you're one of my best friends, so can you please just get along with just this day?" she begged Ginny, who slid her sunglasses down the nose of her bridge a little bit and nodded in agreement.

Then a smile flew over Ginny's face, as she threw off her sunglasses, tossing it into Hermione's beaded bag, and handing it to her. "I will only if I'm allowed to call him Alphie. I remember how much he _hated_ you for calling him that." She grinned, as the smile faded off his face, mortification coming across.

Hermione looked at the begging Ginny and horrified Uncle Alphard and nodded in agreement. "Alright. You can call his Alphie, and you can call _her_ Ginerva. Only, please. Don't jab your wands at each other this time." She turned to Alphard, a warning look coming across her face. "I am warning you though, if you _do_ start a duel, Ginny is _extremely_ talented at the Bat Boogey Hex, and the symptoms aren't the best." Then, she turned to Ginny. "And you, don't get stupefied by Uncle's extremely good looks, because you have a tendency to do that. Also he is much older than you, meaning he is more skilled in dueling."

Alphard and Ginny continued to look at each other, and then finally the man winked at Ginny saying, "My looks do have that affect on ladies."

Ginny laughed a little and patted his arm. "I feel like we're going to be best friends, you and I. For today at least." She put up a finger and then turned to Hermione. "Can we _please_ go to _Quality Quidditch Supplies_? I really need a new pair of gloves and a new polishing kit." She cast her puppy-dog eyes at Hermione, who rolled her chocolate brown ones and sighed.

"Fine. I also need a pair of gloves, because I forgot mine at home." She nodded giddily, but then spotted Luna. "Er—Luna. Will you stay here with our things while we go purchase something from the Quidditch store? I would invite you, but I know that you—"

"It's not a problem, Hermione." She said airily. "I never really liked Quidditch – only commentating it. I'll wait here for you two." She smiled kindly, as Alphard bowed. "It was a pleasure seeing you again, Mr. Black.

"The pleasure is mine." He pecked her hand again, as Hermione shook her head in disbelief. Was everyone in the 70s and 80s this gentlemanly? Because if they were, she would never be able to make it through the seventh year!

"See you later, Luna!" Ginny said, waving her head and walking backwards, crashing into a middle-aged wizard, who stuttered incredulously, running away before Ginny could even say sorry or start a lecture. Hermione and Alphard stifled giggles, and luckily Ginny did not see, because she would painfully murder the two of them if she did.

Instead, Hermione linked her arm in her Uncle's and they made their way over to the Quidditch store. The redhead stormed after them, but her anger faded when she entered the store. The leather of the gloves, equipment, the wood of the brooms, everything smelt _so_ good and nostalgic, Hermione even closed her eyes, imagining herself both at the Burrow and at the dressing room in the White Manor.

Her redheaded friend already darted off to get a cleaning kit and new gloves, when Uncle Alphard stopped her, bowing the same way he did for Luna. "Pleasure to see you, again, kitten, but I really need to find that stubborn immature nephew of mine! I do believe he—"

"UNCLE ALPHIE!" a voice shouted from outside the shop.

"And here he comes." Alphard raised his eyebrows, turning around to face the front of the shop.

Hermione's blood chilled and heart started beating erratically faster, as Sirius Black entered the shop. His young, beautiful face wasn't scarred not physically and there didn't seem to be any pain shown – he was radiating happiness and youth. It wasn't the same Sirius Hermione knew when she was a silly third year, blushing at just his existence, even though he was a criminal. Now, it was understood why he was such a lady's man, and Hogwarts' best known manslut. His elegant aristocratic features seemed very similar to Alphard's – the same arched eyebrows, fathomless silvery-grey eyes, a perfect nose and skin, smooth lips with an everlasting arrogant Black smirk. His shaggy black locks fell down his face perfectly, framing it to finesse and perfection, as he nonchalantly pushed a couple locks back, which fell back unobediently.

Once he saw Hermione standing beside his uncle, his eyes widened and smirk broadened, as he walked in his casual Black way, exposing a rich and high classed aura to the surrounding people, and he had a poise and expression as if he owned the whole place. A gaggle of giggling girls ran into the shop, whispering and admiring him. He turned to them and winked cheekily as they erupted in a sea of giggles and blushes, at which Hermione rolled her eyes at.

He was dressed in clothes, as Luna noted, which looked very similar to Hermione's, only he wasn't wearing lady's boots... He was wearing a tight t-shirt, defining every single one of his muscles. He was also wearing tight black jeans and expensive looking dragon-hide boots. As a final touch, a black leather jacket was nicely fitted onto his broad shoulders.

"Like what you see, love?" he asked her cheekily, finally coming closer into talking distance to her. Hermione smirked, leaning back and examining his fangirls in the background, green from jealousy.

"In fact, I actually do. Uncle Alphard, don't you look charming today." She stood up on her toes, giving Sirius' uncle a kiss on the cheek, which made him chuckle deeply, and Sirius raised an eyebrow at the daring, charming young lady.

~OoOoO~

"So which pair should I get, Sirius? The pink or the magenta? What do you think?" the pretty blond girl asked him, as he paid no attention to her, reading the news article about the mysterious new girl, Hermione White. The very charming tall blond girl and cold blue eyes nudged him softly, hugging him from behind.

"Sorry, love? What did you say?" he asked cheekily, as she scoffed and flipped her hair back, a little annoyed that he, Sirius Black, the charming handsome young man, with a godlike built, which ascended him to perfection, didn't pay attention to her.

"I said which one should I choose? The pink or the magenta?" she asked again, shoving the expensive gloves in his face from _Twilfitt and Tatting's,_ as he was practically dragged in there by James because he once again saw the love of his life, which he didn't. Sirius couldn't care less what the girl wanted, and he winked cheekily at her.

"You look very sexy in both." He said huskily, as she leaned against him affectionately. Just by saying a couple of words and not even trying, Claire or Cassie or whatever her name was swooned around, thinking that they were already a couple from only dating for two weeks.

He saw James Potter, his truly best friends along with Remus Lupin, walking out of the shop, mouthing that he spotted Lily Evans on the street and went to attempt to woo her. "Sorry, love. I gotta go." He said huskily, leaving her side, as she grabbed his calloused into her soft ones, pulling him back closer to her.

"Don't leave me, Sirius." She cooed, batting her eyelashes, trying to make him stay.

"I'll see you around, love." He walked out of the shop, following his friends out into the streets. Girls practically drooled over him, but he didn't mind the attention. Birds were all over him even since the start on his third year.

He caught up with James, who was overlooking the crowds, trying to find his 'one and only Lily-flower'. James had been trying to Lily to go out with him ever since his second year. In his first, he always referred to her as the 'annoying redhead'. Only in second year, did he start to follow her around like a lost puppy, and over the years the temptation and his attraction to her only grew stronger.

James Potter, the majestic pureblooded dashing young son of Dorea and Charlus Potter, was considered as one of the finest picks in Hogwarts, alongside Sirius. Not only was he known for his extremely good looks, consisting of almond-shaped hazel eyes, messy black hair, smooth skin, high cheekbones, and a firm attractive jaw, but he was also one of the most valued chasers on all of Hogwarts' history.

Girls giggled at even the presence of the two lads, a slightest look, a smile or a wink send them fainting and blushing uncontrollably. At least most of them did; there were a few exceptions – Mary MacDonald, Alice Welsh, and of course, Lily Evans.

"Where could she be?" James muttered, glancing over the crowds, his expression hardening after mistakening a pretty redhead, who they noted they had never seen before, for the love of his life, which he thought of as a horrific flaw, which would never happen again.

"I dunno, mate. Let's check _Flourish and Blotts_. She's bound to be there." Sirius smirked, pushing James away lightly, as the both of them smirked. Lily's love for books was too obvious to her surrounding company.

"That's a good idea, Padfoot. Clever and witty as always." James shared the smirk, as they walked down the alley, the book shop already in view.

"I find my way around girls." Sirius shrugged back innocently, even so, his arrogant smirk was still visible, and everyone knew of his ability to woo girls, just by winking at them or even looking at them haughtily. "You understand how many witty Ravenclaws hide out in the library." He drawled, as James rolled his eyes.

"No, I don't, because they're all following you around the castle. But you're a sneaky lad, aren't you, Black?" James hit him on the back 'playfully', which wasn't playful at all, but Sirius couldn't care less – being a beater on the Gryffindor Quidditch team since a very early age, it barely hurt him, after multiple injuries, broken bones and bruises, which left only scars, which everyone considered very sexy.

The two of them continued discussing something, or someone, in hushed whispers, so that the surrounding wouldn't hear of what they were talking about. Many girls, boys included loved to eavesdrop on them. Everyone was interested in what the two boys were talking about – Hogwarts' latest ideal prank, a certain girl, or secrets kept amongst them.

For another minute they walked, and were practically across the street from Flourish and Blotts, when they noticed Remus talking to someone. Sirius' jaw tightened – she might've been the prettiest girl he had ever seen.

She didn't exhilarate sexual attraction or arousement, but had something mysterious about her – she went up halfway to Remus' neck, had long, chestnut coloured curly hair, trailing down her to the small of her back. She was wearing tight muggle clothes, just as he was, which suited her very well. They were laughing at something together, when Remus did an extravagant bow.

Sirius' jaw clenched, and he didn't know why. He didn't even know this girl, and even then something in his stomach was unsettling and uncomforting to see her so openly flirting with Remus. As much as he did love his friend, for some reason this was a moment he couldn't control. Was this jealousy? No... Sirius Black was never jealous – girls flew at him in flocks, and he couldn't ask for more, but this strange feeling was intoxicating.

_"Maybe my dearest mother managed to poison my lunch somehow..." _he snorted at himself, imagining Walburga sneaking into Potter Manor, in which he had lived for a couple of years already, and slipping in poison into his food... a hysterical scene!

"OI, Moony!" he shouted across the street, which made the two of them turn around. The girl looked around and spotting something near the two boys said something to Remus and hurried away, glancing over her shoulder. James looked at Sirius, who shared the look of surprise and curiousness.

They strutted over to Remus, settling near him, leaning against him. "Who was that bird with you, Moony?" James smirked as the werewolf blushed a little and looked away, but then his face morphed into shock.

"I don't know." He mumbled through his thoughts. "She's going into seventh year with us, and she's taking ten N.E.W.T. classes." He noted, as James' and Sirius' jaws dropped to the floor, as they gapped at them.

"TEN?!" Sirius shouted out, and Remus nodded eagerly.

"Is she planning to graduate? And you didn't get her name?" James raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing shamelessly on his lips, as Remus blushed slightly.

"She was about to tell me, but seemed spooked off. It was either by you or someone else." He shrugged, but then waved his hand. "We'll see her on the train, and I'm sure you're going to be able to ask her everything you want. But she seems like Lily – doesn't really respond to flirting and doesn't go off blushing uncontrollable like any of the other schoolgirls."

The two other Marauders looked at each other, and grinned, thinking the same thing. "Remus, mate, girls are throwing themselves at you today! We congratulate you! First that redhead one with the blue eyes," Sirius started, as James blushed at his fatal mistake, finding the ground interesting at that moment. "Now this one!"

"Shove off, Padfoot." He growled, a smile tugging at his lips, as both his friends got on either side of them, linking arms and skipping happily across the street, thoughts of the mysterious girls disappearing as quickly as the morning mist.

They visited _Gambol and Japes_, to restock on all of their supplies, utilities, pranks and even inspirations for ones. They asked the manager to show them a couple of their newest supplies and the young man pleasantly assisted them with everything, giving them comfortable discounts and leading them to a couple obscure places, where they wouldn't be bombarded with people. Even though, of course, Sirius didn't mind the crowd.

After that, they went out into the streets to check anything they were missing. Everywhere around them, there were a bunch load of people whispering, and shoving newspapers into each others' hands and pointing in the direction of where the Marauders were just standing.

His ears twitching like a dog's, Sirius moved closer to them, but could only hear bits and pieces of everything they were saying;

_"...Hermione White..."_

_"...poor girls! Can't believe they've undergone such a thing..."_

_"...so brutal... and they're so young!..."_

_"...are of interest to You-Know-Who..."_

_"...Hogwarts will be safe for them..."_

"Say, Moony! Isn't that the girl who bumped into you earlier today?" James asked, interrupting any slightness of awkwardness and embarrassment he had before. Remus slightly tilted his head and looked at two girls, who were sitting beside _Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour_.

Catching sight of them, Sirius smirked slightly at James. "Yeah, Prongs, isn't that the girls you pathetically mistook for your 'dearly beloved Lily-flower'?" he cooed as James reddened and hit Sirius in the back of the head with the opened envelope in his hand, which consisted of the letter from Hogwarts, proudly appointing him as Head Boy, which came as shock to everyone, and Quidditch Captain.

The redhead and blonde were sitting and talking quietly as people walked around them cautiously, as if they were infected with a disease or were of certain interest to the public. The two girls seemed to ignore the people and were talking in hushed tones. Once the redhead caught sight of the Marauders, Sirius gave her a slight cheeky wink, but surprisingly she wasn't affected by it.

_"Strange..."_ he thought, scratching his scalp, pushing his hair from his face. The girl kept on staring at him... or maybe... Sirius turned around and noticed that his dear loyal friend Remus, who was looking at her as well. Both of them blushed and looked another way, while their friends looked at them curiously: the blond nudged the redhead and James and Sirius looked at each other.

"Let's go to _Quality Quidditch Supplies_!" James exclaimed, tossing aside the awkwardness of the situation, when they were engulfed by a hurdle of their fangirls, who started asking them questions and didn't release them, before they managed to slip away around twenty minutes after.

The blond girl was now sitting alone beside the icecream parlor, and when the other was gone. Suddenly, he saw a swish of an elegant dark cape, perfectly tailored, entering the Quidditch Store. He grinned. Who else could it be?

"UNCLE ALPHIE!" he shouted out, running to the Quidditch store where indeed his uncle was standing. And talking to the pretty girl he saw talking to Remus not an hour ago. His eyes widened and smirk broadened, as he walked towards them, winking at a couple girls who broke off from the big group.

He smirked as he realized she was looking at him, scanning him thoroughly, and did the same for her.

"Like what you see, love?" he asked cheekily, those couple of words which would make girls faint on the spot, as he took up the distance left between him, and his uncle and dashing young lady.

She leaned back, smirking for some reason, which Sirius took in curiously and interested. "In fact, I actually do. Uncle Alphard, don't you look charming today?" she gave him a daring kiss on the cheek, as Sirius raised his eyebrow, which went nearly to his hairline from surprise.

"Uncle Alphie, I see you still have your Black charm, attracting young birds like that." He smirked, although still a little surprised from the girl's move. Most of the time, girls would just fall at his feet, blushing and drooling over him, but this one was different.

Alphard nodded slyly. "You know me, Sirius. But now you're stealing all the ladies away from me. First I thought that was my fan club over there." He nodded to the group of girls, and giggling erupted once again. "But don't worry. They're all _way_ out of my league. And how many times have I asked you to not use that name?"

"And I've still been calling you that for the past seventeen years."

"You're never going to change are you?"

"Never." The Black exchange was quite amusing to Hermione, but then Sirius turned his attention back to the brunette. "And who might this pretty bird be?"

"Not your bird that's for sure." Hermione muttered, as Alphard barked out laughing, and the younger Black's face morphed into a mix of amusement, surprise, and he looked thoroughly impressed.

"May I present to you Hermione White. Hermione, my nephew, Sirius Black." Alphard introduced them, as Sirius' jaw dropped.

~OoOoO~

Once Uncle Alphard introduced her to Sirius, Hermione couldn't help but hold back giggles from the expression the younger Black held. His eyebrows were deliberately raised, as Alphard tried to hold back a chuckle, but was unsuccessful.

"Sorry, ladies. I do need to go visit Ginerva and check on how she's doing before she buys the whole store." She smirked, leaning in to give Uncle Alphard a kiss on the cheek once again. "Uncle ALphard." She nodded to Sirius, whose expression remained the same. "See you on the train, Black." She winked at him, and could slap herself for doing so, but she didn't care.

"Don't forget to write, princess." Alphard winked at her, as she nodded eagerly.

She made her way to one of the aisles, and could hear Uncle Alphard saying "busted" to Sirius, and there was a loud yelp after that, which she assumed came from the older Black, not the younger one. Once she came near her, Ginny was pondering between two pairs of Quidditch gloves.

"Hey, Gin." She smirked leaning against the self as she huffed and tried to make a decision between the two pairs of gloves.

"Hey, Hermione. I think I'll go with this pair..." she mumbled to herself, undecidingly, as she trudged over to the front desk, holding two of the same pair: one for herself and one for Hermione.

Hermione rolled her eyes and snorted. "Knock yourself out."

Once they were done paying, they left the shop, passing by a still cheeky Sirius, who tried to wink at Hermione, but she ignored him, James Potter, the exact replica of Harry minus his eyes, which made Hermione's heart stop, when she looked at him, blushed and looked down, as if remembering an embarrassing memory, which need not be reminded, and Remus just blushed at Ginny and turned away, as Hermione snickered and bit, holding in laughter. Ginny was equally red, but paid no attention.

They met Luna outside and happily made their way to have dinner at a small restaurant, where they wouldn't draw too much attention and where the people were more polite than the ones they had met on the streets the other days.

The next while went by pleasantly, as Ginny successfully raided _Twilfitt and Tatting's,_ instead of the usual secondhand robe shop, _Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions_, _Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop, _and added to her collection of Fred and George's items, which they also found in their equipment packed specially by Gryffindor. Hermione and Luna remained somewhat calm in comparison to Ginny.

Time seemed to fly, and soon the three girls were ready to head to Hogwarts.

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**Ahh! Gotta get back to Hogwarts, where everyone thinks ! :P haha who knows where that's from? Amazing musical. Anywaaaaaaaaays, how'd you like the chapter? I worked so long on it sooooo long! Especially finding out about all these shops... argh, that was a nerve-racking part. **

**How do you guys like how the Marauders are portrayed? Your first actual look at the Marauders, huh? James mistakening Ginny for Lily, and such...**

**Also, did you notice that Ginny, like Tonks, doesn't like being called by her full name? Haha just a little note there. And I really wanted to include Alphard Black in the story, because since he was blasted off the tree, he was a bigger part of the Light than the Dark, so I made him be the Whites', Evergreens' and Thorns' acquaintance. **

**Hermione, Luna and Ginny also have two sets of memories now – the artificial ones the founders created for them, and their old ones of their own past. **

**SO, reviews guys? Hahah reviews are really appreciated, along with any questions, complaints (hope not those thought), comments, anything positive or negative. Love you guys so much ;)x**

**~Girl. x . Marauder~  
Daria**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter, or anything about it :( unfortunately…**

**Heyy, guys! How're you doing? Sorry for not updating in a while, I'm planning to try and update every week and a half or two weeks max, because I can barely keep up with myself. SO much work at school – teachers are so picky. We've ****_already_**** been given our English CPT. I guess that's cool, since it's due in January, but still, it's exhausting. **

**It's getting colder and colder now! Ahh, can't wait until the winter, or Thanksgiving at least! Just a couple more days! **

**On the weekend, I went to a tragic Italian opera with my mom and sister… It was intense… especially since I was sick, which ended up being pretty bad. **

**Now, getting back to the point, thanks so so so so sooooooooo VERYYY much for all the reviews! You're amazing! You're my lifesavers! If it wasn't for you guys, I would've probably given up on this story and it would keep lying in a dusty folder on my computer… *sighhh* That's what happens to my non-HP stories… most of them at least. **

**OKAY. SO!**

**SincerelyYourSecret: Don't worry, I fangirl over Sirius too! Hahaha ;) don't we all?**

**Mrs. Theodore Nott: Hahaha, yeah love it! Since Hermione was such a good girl in her "past life", she still refers to him as uncle, partially of respect, but at the same time it's because Alphard was like a family friend to the White's and they were really, ****_really_**** close, so she refers to his as her uncle, as if they are actually related. **

**arabrabM: Yeah, so basically, they have the same old memories from 1980 and after, as their 'first selves', and now they have artificial memories added in, so that if anyone asks them anything, they can quickly remember it, even though they wouldn't have physically done it. **

**Thank you to everyone else! TsukiyoTenshi, roseberrygirl, Thalia Grace Pikachu, Terrence Rogue, cosmoGirl666, casper22, hummingpetal, the guest, crazyjr, BrightestWitchOfHerAge16, BBauzzie, Alexis96.**

* * *

**A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.**

**~Robertson Davies**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

The station, as glorious as ever with the heartwarming steaming red train, the Hogwarts Express, was awaiting them, whistle blowing, ushering people on. After dropping off their snowy owl, which they named Nix, Latin for snow, ("let's call him NiffleStriffler!" "NO, LUNA! We can't call the owl that!") the girls headed out to find an empty compartment away from prying eyes.

Many curious faces passed, looking through the window and all the girls could do was just ignore them. Parents, relatives and friends stood outside and waved at the train. The girls had no one there. For the first time in years, the only people they knew were themselves, and yet they eagerly looked out trying to find a familiar face.

Finally the train jerked into movement, speeding along the rolling fields with wildflowers, grassy green hills, small evergreen forests and everything that so long ago seemed so familiar. It was the thing they missed and loved and they were finally coming home – Hogwarts.

After prefects finished doing their rounds and the trolley same lady which had come around when the girls were still in their first round of Hogwarts, younger of course, came around, the three girls purchased a variety of wizard candies which they had very much missed.

Casting the _muffilato_, Hermione looked out both ways in the hall, to make sure that nobody was coming around, and finally plopped down on the plush seats. Not being able to take everything in, she decided to tell them about the dream she had two weeks ago. It was still worrying her, and it would be best to tell someone, because maybe it wasn't just a dream...

She told Ginny and Luna about her dream, as they watched her, eyes wide open with a mix of excitement and curiosity.

"That's all?" Ginny asked, resting her elbows on her knees, leaning in close to Hermione, who nodded solemnly.

"Well, that's not quite normal." Luna sighed, her usually cheerful blue eyes turning dark in thought and concentration.

Ginny snorted with amusement. "Normal... Luna speaking of normal. That is pretty amusing..." she mused, but her face turned serious. "But Luna _is_ right. Didn't the same thing happen to Harry? As in he got different visions?"

"But not visions with messages and riddles in them." Hermione exclaimed, slamming her fists against the couch, accidentally bursting a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans**,** as a horrified expression came across Ginny's face, as she started to pick them off and carefully plopping them in her mouth one by one.

"That's because you're Hermione Granger—erm—White... The brightest witch of your age. It was probably like that for Harry because his head was full of wraskspurts. I'm sure of it – I saw them floating around his head one during the D.A. Club." Luna noted raising her eyebrows, as Hermione nodded in consideration.

The three of them shared a moment of silence, and then Hermione spoke up. "I don't think that this dream was normal. It definitely wasn't just a casual dream you see every day. I think we should crack whatever she's trying to tell us."

"Did you see who it was? Did you recognize her?" Ginny asked, through a mouthful of beans, as Hermione looked at her in disgust. The redhead rolled her eyes and continued asking questions and inquiring more details.

"I think that first we should get accustomed to school..." Luna said thoughtfully, rubbing her chin and grimacing. "We have to pretend that we know no part of it, and we have to act as if we're royal purebloods." She sighed dreamily. "Who would've known that the loony Luna, the daughter of Xenophilius Lovegood would be respected in all ways, being one of the richest members of the whole wizarding world..."

"Alas... Same with the poor Weasleys!" Ginny laughed, but her laugh isn't filled with happiness – it's completely empty. "The Weasleys, who couldn't afford anything at all..." she murmured, looking out the window. Hermione strained to look at her expression from the corner of her eye and it almost seemed that Ginny's eyes were filled with tears.

She looked with exasperation and desperation at her redheaded, who continued to stare at the shifting landscape, all which seemed so warm and familiar, and yet so cold and far away. Her usually happy blue eyes were shimmering with sorrow and melancholy.

"Are you alright, Gin?" Hermione asked hopefully, trying to lighten up the load on Ginny's back but it seemed to only draw heavier.

"I'm fine." She shrugged her off in an abnormally high voice, which could compete with Luna's. She didn't even look at Hermione and continued to stare out the window, drawing even more and more attention to her.

"Ginny, I don't think you're fine." Luna finally put in, after Hermione desperately looked at her for help. "If you were fine right now, I believe that the other days you are extremely out of control, either on sugar or striving on high emotions."

Hermione burst into laughter, toppling over the chocolate frogs laying beside her, which croaked fearfully, trying to hop away, and even Ginny herself cracked a smile at Luna.

"I just can't get over the whole thing. I can't, I can't, I can't. It's impossible." Ginny finally turned around, tears brimming her eyes, threatening to drop on her fiery red hair. "Everything that I believed in is gone! Harry's not here yet, and I miss him so much! I can't imagine life without him! He's not even born yet! He's a flipping egg, and maybe not even developed _into_ an egg yet!" a smile circled her lips, but her expression remained the same. "It's like losing a love and leaving them in your past life. I was going to marry Harry. I was going to have his children – Imagine! I would be the mother of his children. But now it's all gone," she exhaled abruptly, as Hermione and Luna looked at each other mournfully.

"Well, there's always James Potter. He's Harry's dad, you know…" Luna noted thoughtfully, as Ginny shrieked attacking a laughing Luna and simultaneously throwing death glares at a dying Hermione.

"Fred told me, you know. He told me that I can't fail him. I can't separate the family, and I have to leave everyone alive. And now the Weasley family is just going to be a bunch of boys living in one house." Ginny sighed again, throwing her head back on the back of the seat and staring up to the ceiling of the compartment.

Nobody spoke for a while: they all shared and respected the silence formed around them. All of the sudden Luna spoke up. "I miss Neville too. He was such a good friend. But now we have to get over it. Because we're going to meet new people and most importantly we have each other." She smiled at each one of the girls – the same smile she gave them when they first met.

After that outburst of emotion, the train ride went by fairly smoothly, and the three girls left behind only happy thoughts and emotions, jokes, and things they were going to do at school in their 'first' but final year.

Soon, they reached the train station and headed towards the lake, where Hagrid was standing with a large lantern as he had all for all those years...

"Firs' years over here! Firs' years over here!" his booming voice traveled over the crowds of people, as tiny first years stumbled over gaping at the half-giant. They gapped at him in shock and surprise, and it seemed like Ginny, Hermione and Luna were the tallest after Hagrid and had a clear view of everything over their heads.

"Hermione White, Miss! Glad to see yeh here at Hogwarts! Great school. And yeh too, Ginevra Evergreen an' Luna Thorn! Nice year t'will be... Nice year indeed!" he nodded to them cheerfully, as they waved and smiled back.

"An'more firs' years? Alrigh' then. C'mon, follow me!" he led them down a slippery and steep bath. Many dark trees surrounded them, so it was very hard to see what was located where. First years stepped on each others' feet, stumbled and a couple ever fell.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a bit," Hagrid called to them over his shoulder, his lamp nearly as a beacon of light, leading the children on. "jus' 'round 'ere!"

The beautiful sight of the Hogwarts appeared, as they left the thick green trees. The Black Lake reflected all the light of the castle, which was perched on a high mountain. The windows were sparkling with light, as the gleaming stars illuminated it, making it seem grander and even more splendid.

There was a loud 'Oooooh!' from the first years, and even the girls couldn't hold back a sigh of pleasure and an exclamation. It was wonderful to be back home.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid directed them, as they reached the boats sitting and waiting for them on the rocky shore of the lake. Seeing that the three of them were much larger than any or the first years, they settled themselves down in a boat and no one dared approach or negotiate them.

"Everyone in?" Hagrid shouted, after getting into his personal boat, because he could've easily taken the weight of at least three first years. "Right then – FORWARD!"

Each one of the boats pushed off of the shore and glided over the dark Black Lake. Everyone peered into the water, trying to get a glimpse of what was underneath, but then were fully distracted by the glowing castle, drawing them like moths to light. Hermione eyed the lake carefully, remembering her fourth year, when she had a pleasant plunge in it.

"Heads down!" Hagrid yelled, as the small fleet of boats headed towards a cliff. All the children, who were no more than eleven years old bent their heads, but the older girls practically had to lie down in the boats not to get hit in the head and be left with a serious concussion or a hideous scar.

After finally reaching the end of the tunnel and out onto shore, Hermione and the other girls stumbled out, successfully pushing Ginny in the water. After laughing their heads off and getting punched in the arm by a sopping wet, unhappy Ginny-animal, they walked towards the open doors, where Professor McGonagall stood waiting for them patiently.

Ginny cast a drying spell over herself, getting the attention of Professor McGonagall, who eyed her strictly.

Professor McGonagall still looked like the same teacher they left back in 1999, only much younger looking. She wore emerald green robes, had her hair pulled back in a tight pun, her face wearing an unamused smile, probably mentally hoping that there won't be too many trouble-makers in this litter, because the Marauders were enough on her mind. She started on her speech, which she undertook every year.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes—"

"Still the same McGonagall, aint she?" Ginny winked at the two girls who mischievously winked at here.

"Even better!" the two of them whispered, as the Professor finished her speech.

"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly." She said sternly, leaving them behind, as a hoard of whispers broke out across the room. Everyone seemed terrified. They were most likely thinking the same thing everyone thought when they were in first year – how will they get sorted? Will it be embarrassing? The older year students filled their mind with jibberish, which was pretty amusing, about having to face a Mountain Troll in the Great Hall.

While everyone was extremely nervous, the three girls in the back were smirking in delight, knowing what awaited them in the hall – Godric Gryffindor's Sorting Hat. Hermione knew that the spell wore off and that her parents could hear every single one of her thoughts and were probably paying very close attention to what she was thinking, so she didn't try to think anything for the matter.

Finally, McGonagall returned. "Form a line." She said strictly, as all the first years stumbled together in a bunch, trying to form a perfectly straight line. "Follow me." She said, glancing at them, even though their line wasn't partially acceptable, but all she could do was sigh.

Again and again, as it had for the first time she entered it, the Great Hall took her breath away. It was lit by thousands of candles, floating in mid-air half way from the dark velvet ceiling over four long tables. Another long table with teachers sitting at it stood. Both were holding golden plates and goblets, which would soon be filled with food and juice.

At the front of the hall was a four-legged stool with the Sorting Hat atop it. Chatters spread around the tables like a wild fire, when they noticed the girls walking down the aisle. Even the teachers seemed to be staring a hole in the three of them, but the girls were already used to this type of attention and knew that most of the eyes were focused on them. Hermione kept her eye steadily on the Sorting Hat, not glancing around.

"_For hundreds of years I've sat up here  
Meeting plenty of students around!  
But for all the things you choose to hide  
With me your secrets are always found._

_The handsomest hat in the world is here  
Sitting at Hogwarts alone  
For I am the prettiest you'll ever find  
I answer any riddle that's thrown_

_So many have already tried me on  
And many have gone their ways  
Now your amazing turn to put me on  
Right now before you lays._

_Which will you choose? There are four here today  
In fact it might only choose you.  
For Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, others await  
Slytherin, Hufflepuff too!_

_What of Gryffindor do you truly find?  
Courageous are found here  
They're daring, chivalrous and even proud,  
So you will have nothing to fear._

_And also kind and gentle Hufflepuff  
Where loyal can be found,  
Don't under judge them for their kindness  
With them you'll be safe and sound!_

_Do not forget the wisest – Ravenclaw  
Their knowledge won't keep them away.  
So if you've got a witty brain  
Get into Ravenclaw you may._

_Now lastly, ambitious Slytherin,  
Cunningness mustered and ready  
They'll never have a final stand  
So with them keep it steady._

_The next seven years, in which will you stay?  
Courageous, loyal, the witty or quick?  
Today you shall find out your fate for those years  
Will these years pass smooth and slick?_

_Prophecies and dangers await the new,  
So on your guard and careful please be  
Not much will be easy; for there will be troubles  
Which you cannot see_

_Now do put me on, do not be too scared!  
I do not truly bite!  
A mouth like this can only speak  
Words that can only be right!_

The whole hall exploded into clapping, younger to older students. The only phrase that actually scared Hermione a little was the one that talked about prophesies. Could it be a hint for the upcoming year? Was something dangerous truly going to happen? The 'dream' that she had, could it be real, and could the girl in white try to telling her something and warning her?

Intrigued with deep thoughts, she missed Professor McGonagall explain how the Sorting Hat works, and children were already being called up. There were already two Hufflepuffs, two Ravenclaws, one Slytherin and one Gryffindor when Ginny was called up.

"Evergreen, Ginevra." McGonagall called up, as Hermione and Luna gave Ginny a warm push and all eyes were once again on them. Ginny smiled weakly and walked up, sitting down on the stool.

_"Huh! _Another_ Weasley, and your second time around? Better be in..."_

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat roared out, barely even getting placed on Ginny's head. The redhead smiled cheerily, and skipped over to the Gryffindor table.

The Gryffindor table burst out into cheers, even more enthusiastic than Hermione had ever heard them. Hermione and Luna cheered happily, hoping for the same fate. More first years got sorted, and soon it was Luna's turn to go up.

"Thorn, Luna." McGonagall called her up, and all eyes were once again on the leftover. Luna exhaled and happily went up, placing the hat on her own head. Hermione winked at her from where she was standing and Luna winked back.

_"Ah... Luna Thorn. Or should I say Luna Lovegood?" _

"Good evening to you too, Hat! How are you faring?"

_"Splendid... Splendid... What house will you be in this time? Ravenclaw again? But I do warn you, the seventh years in Ravenclaw... aren't the best."_

"Thank you for the information, Hat. But I'd really like to be in Gryffindor this time around. Because it was a little bit uncomfortable the last time, and we'd really like to stick together.

_"You could muster up for a good Hufflepuff too... But you're right. More courage you've got and chivalry as well..."_

"GRYFFINDOR!" it cried out, and the Gryffindor table burst out in applause once again, as the other tables clapped half heartedly. Gryffindor already got two of three extremely amazing purebloods, so what would happen now?

A couple turns from Luna, Hermione was finally called up.

"White, Hermione." Professor McGonagall called out, giving Hermione a small smile of hope and curiosity.

She walked up to the stool, placing the hat on her head, as all eyes were on her. She met eyes with Luna and Ginny who were carefully watching her from the Gryffindor table, giving her a small smile, and she smiled back. Everyone was in whispers, pointing and all Hermione could do was roll her eyes. Her eyes locked with grey ones, but she quickly looked away, trying not to make contact with Sirius at all.

_"Mmm... Curious... Very curious... Hermione White. Or should I call you Granger?" _

"Whichever. Don't forget that you also have the choices of calling me Hermione Gryffindor or Hermione Ravenclaw..."

_"Yes... yes... that is a pretty interesting case, I believe—"_

**_"Oi, Sorting Hat, you know where to put her. So why are you taking up so much time?" _**

Hermione rolled her eyes at the voice and groaned a little bit, making her facial expressions minimal because all eyes and concentration was on her.

"Father... Please. I believe this is my sorting, not yours..."

**"Yes, Godric. Stay out of it. Maybe she'll become a Ravenclaw! Who knows. You can't always take the best for yourself."**

**_"Sure I can... Your lot of seventh years is rubbish. Did you see what they're planning to—"_**

**"Yes, but—"**

**_"See... you can't prove it. Hermione belongs in Gryffindor..."_**

_"Actually, she can belong in all four houses – Gryffindor for her chivalry and courage, Hufflepuff for her loyalty and kindness, Ravenclaw for her wittiness and brains, and over the years she can also fit as a Slytherin for her cunningness and ambition..."_

**_"Oi! Hat! You're my property, so—"_**

"Cut it out! Sorting Hat, please..." Hermione begged.

"GRYFFINDOR!" it cried out, and everyone from the Gryffindor table stood up, cheering, shouting and clapping, while Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw clapped half-heartedly, some of them slumping on the table in exasperation and throwing dirty looks to the Gryffindors, and the Slytherins didn't do anything at all, except stare at the Gryffindors.

Hermione passed Professor McGonagall, who was actually beaming, and handed her the hat, and she patted her on the back. Hermione made her way to the Gryffindor table where her friends were awaiting. Luna and Ginny were sitting back lazily smirking at Hermione, who rolled her eyes at them and took a seat beside Lily Evans, Head Girl.

Gryffindors, as well as a couple of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs shook her hand many times, introducing themselves even though Hermione knew more than a couple of them.

"What happened this time?" Ginny whispered, smirking as one of the last first years came wobbling to the front of the hall. Luna was spinning her fork in between her fingers, and Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"You don't wanna know..." she winked at them, while others around stared at them in curiousity, as another girl joined the Gryffindor table.

"That bad, huh?" Luna winked at her and Hermione nodded with a slight smile, as the Sorting Ceremony finished with 'Zabini, Chelsea', who was sorted into Slytherin, and seemed to be a younger sister of one of the Zabinis.

Many males looked down at their plates in longing, holding their stomachs, which highly reminded Hermione of Ron before the banquet.

Finally, Albus Dumbledore got up to his feet and started speaking. He looked younger, yet still sported the same long beard, which was in fact a silvery-grey, not white, he was wearing long robes and the same half-moon spectacles, and of course had the same twinkling blue eyes, which could look at you and you would feel as if he knows all your secrets.

"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts, to both our seventh year students down to our first year students! Before we begin our feast, which I am sure everyone is looking forward to, I would like to remind you that this year our Head Girl and Head Boy are from the house of Gryffindor – Lily Evans and James Potter."

Everyone burst into cheers, as Lily and James puffed out their chests, holding a Head-badge. Many gapped in amazement, because everyone knew James was one of the four Marauders, Hogwarts heart-throb and Quidditch extraordinaire. Everyone knew that Lily Evans would be Head Girl, but not many suspected that it would be James Potter along with her.

Some boys cat-called and winked at them, and finally when everyone settled down, Dumbledore shushed them again. "We also have a new Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Please welcome Professor Daslor."

A tall teacher two looked from thirty to thirty five years old and made several girls blush, had light brown, nearly ginger hair, stunning dark green eyes, middle-class robes, a small smile on his face, with a straight nose and a kind expression. He stood up and then sat back down, and Dumbledore finished off.

"And now, may the feast begin!"

He sat back down as the tables magically appeared, holding everyone you could ever dream of. The dishes were piled up to the rim, food nearly falling out. Tiny first years gapped at the sight, as everyone else had many years ago. There was everything – sausages, bacon, chicken, pork chops, lamb chops, Yorkshire pudding, boiled potatoes, roasted potatoes, pasta, vegetables, and so much more – anything you could ever dream of.

Only then did Hermione notice who was sitting around her – in front of her were Ginny and Luna, beside her, closer to the teachers was the one and only Lily Evans and on her other side... _Oh, bugger..._ She groaned as she spotted the Marauders piling up food onto their plates, eagerly looking Hermione from time to time and throwing out free winks.

Lily was remarkably beautiful. She had red hair, not typical Weasley-like, but deep coloured, somewhat auburn, as it fell superbly down her back. She had a small nose, fair skin, like Hermione's, full dusty-rose lips and a kind and caring expression. No wonder so many guys followed her around.

"Lily Evans." She held out her hand and Hermione gratefully took it. "How do you like Hogwarts so far?" she smiled at her, her deep, fathomless, kind green eyes staring right into hers.

Harry's eyes. These were the eyes that looked at her desperately as she tried to solve the answer to Snape's riddle; these were the eyes that looked at her longingly from day to day when she lay petrified in the Hospital Wing; these were the eyes which watched her with astonishment when she turned the timeturner; these were the eyes which joined with hers during every single one of his tasks; these were the eyes which longed for answers and help about his visions; the eyes that soothed her when she promised to go hocrux hunting with him; these were the eyes that looked up to her in desperation when they had no clue about the horcruxes. And lastly, these were the eyes that brought hope to Hermione and everyone around her.

She snapped out of her trance, hoping that she didn't look mentally retarded in front of Harry's mother. She smiled joyfully at Lily, and expressed her true feelings. "It's truly remarkable and magnificent. There are so many words to describe it, but I just can't pull out the right ones. It feels like the safest place in the world." And that it was.

Lily nodded approvingly. "It is. With Professor Dumbledore around, nothing bad can happen. I hope not at least." They looked across the table, and Lily shook hands with Ginny and Luna, who were already putting small portions of food on their plates. "You will be sharing dormitories with myself, so it will be the four of us."

"Why so little people?" Ginny called out from across the table. "Isn't there supposed to be more than one?"

Lily's face looked grim. "Two girls left, one of which was Mary MacDonald, because their families were either erm—muggles or ones which associated with the light." She spat out, and then continued calmly, a disgusted look overcoming her face. "One of the girls failed sixth year. Complete twat she was. I believe it happened because she was running around twisting her knickers with different guys every night. Especially Black." She gave the boys on the either side of Hermione a cold glare.

"Be careful of them, Mione. The Marauders, I mean." She nodded, as Hermione nodded sympathetically.

"What's so bad about them? And who are the Marauders?" Hermione asked curiously, even though she already knew the answer.

"Those boys. Potter, Black, dear Remus and shy Peter. They formed a group many years ago called the Marauders: they're a bunch of troublemakers, pranksters and arrogant stuck up gits for the most part." Lily jabbed at the potatoes she piled up not just a minute ago. Hermione knew she was mainly meaning James and Sirius.

"Oi, Evans. Don't put White against us. Maybe she'll want to be friends." Someone called to the left of Hermione. Her blood chilled and she slowly turned to the direction of the voice. There was the carbon copy of Harry, forget the eyes: the hair, the nose, the face, everything, only James' voice seemed to be more arrogant and regal than Harry's could ever be.

"Yeah Evans." Sirius added in, giving Hermione a wink, who stared at him unimpressed.

"Hermione White." She held out her hand to James, who pecked it in a gentlemanly way and nodded at her.

"James Potter. I hope my Lily-flower wasn—"

"FIRSTLY, Potter. I am NOT your Lily-flower." Lily spat at him, eyes flashing. "And Hermione can make decisions of herself. I think she's old enough and doesn't need your haughty opinion."

Hermione felt a little bad for James, especially because Lily had treated him this way for the last six years... That must've been a tough time for him, but a good laugh for everyone else who watched or listened.

"Peter Pettigrew." Peter piped up from where he was seated. Peter. That traitor. Hermione couldn't stand being near him. He betrayed all his friends and blamed it on Sirius. This chubby teenager, who looked completely innocent would soon be a murderer and a very, _very _cruel man, because of whom the whole mess occurred.

If Hermione could, she would stab him with her knife in the jugular, and to end everything that happened, but she still had a chance: a chance to change him and everything else with minimal amount of deaths, but instead gave him a tight lipped smile.

"These are—" James started, noticing the awkward pause between everyone, but Hermione cut him off.

"Yes, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. I've met Remus in _Flourish and Blotts_ and was semi-formally introduced to Black." She smiled, recalling the memory, as Remus smiled at her and Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Although we didn't have too much of a chance to talk. I was busy." She explained quickly, noticing the curious peers from all over the table.

Trying to dissolve everyone's stares, Lily helpfully switched the topic and pulled Hermione back over to her side, asking her about her subjects. "So what are you taking for your N.E.W.T. classes?"

"Ten." Hermione answered nonchalantly, chewing off a piece of the chicken wing, lying on her plate, as Lily's eyebrows deliberately rose as high as they could. Ginny and Luna burst out into laughter at the redhead's reaction and Hermione looked up unconcerned and looked at Lily bluntly. "What?" she asked.

Lily tried to close her mouth, but ended up like a fish, opening and closing her mouth, not being able to say anything. Finally she choked through her words. "Ten?" she asked, completely flabbergasted and amazed, and actually quite successfully returning everyone to their food.

Remus and Ginny seemed engaged in a conversation about how the school works, Luna was conversing with a couple fifth or sixth years about the study of magical creatures and that they actually do exist, and that everything the young Lovegood started isn't rubbish but is all true, which took a lot of convincing, Hermione and Luna were engaged talking about studies and nobody even noticed how fast time flew by.

Never did they think they would be so well-accepted and that they would have so much fun. The three girls smiled at each other, sharing knowing smirk and a twinkle in their eyes and soon finished their dessert, which soon disappeared off the table, along with all the places and goblets. Everyone was full and fully satisfied.

"Just a few words before you head off to your dormitories for your beloved sleep... yes sleep after such a long and tiring journey for most of you. As always, first years should note that the forest in the grounds in forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." His twinkling blue eyes flashed in the direction of the grinning Marauders.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between class in the corridors." He continued. "Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term, and whoever is interested should contact Madame Hooch." At this, James' eyes widened and grin worthy of a maniac crossed his face. "And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" Dumbledore exclaimed.

The whole school sang, and it was a beautiful sight. Everyone finished at their own times, and the Mauraders were the last to finish, each singing slowly with a different accent: French, American, German and Russian. Many giggles erupted, as they finished, but Hermione only sighed. If Fleur Delacour heard the French version, sung by Peter, she would have probably hexed him to muggle London.

Finally, everyone split up, going to their own dormitories, and Hermione, Luna and Ginny pretended to be impressed and lost, not knowing where to go, but eventually decided to 'follow the crowd'.

Lily bid them farewell, as she trailed behind the crowd, checking that no one wandered off, and to make sure that everyone got led securely to the Common Room. They got led up the moving staircase, and the prefects briefly explained everything that happened at Hogwarts to the gapping first years.

Finally, they found themselves in the Gryffindor Common Room, after coming through the portrait of the Fat Lady, saying the incredulous password, which was _Chelidonium Miniscula_ and which Luna loved, since she not only loved Magical Creatures, but Potions as well.

Luna didn't have to pretend to be amazed because she barely came into the Common Room with Ginny and Hermione – if they ever had to, they met up at the library of on the grounds under their tree instead. Ginny and Hermione had to pretend to be amazed, and when Lily asked them why Hermione seemed familiar with the room, she made the brief excuse of reading it in _Hogwarts, a History_, and they intensely started discussing the book with Lily.

Finally, they got up to their dormitories, where they plopped down on their beds and went into a deep sleep after chattering amongst themselves for a while. Hermione, Ginny and Luna found out that Neville's parents had already been dating for a couple of years, and were both in Hufflepuff, when Mary MacDonald, as well as a couple of Lily's older roommates left due to Death Eater attacks, and losses as well as precaution.

Lily was already asleep, but the three girls were in their beds, lying with their eyes closed, trying to take everything in. They sensed that the others weren't asleep as well, but the only thought coming through their brains was that they were finally at home – at Hogwarts.

* * *

**Wow, this was actually one of the shortest chapters… That sucks. It seemed very long to write though! Hm… I guess I can lengthen them up in some time.**

**Anyone notice that Ginny and Remus have a huge thing in common? Their obsession with candy? Especially Honeydukes? Yeah, I know Remus is more on a chocolate-frenzy, but Ginny was raised by brothers, so she ****_had_**** to like candy. Still, who the heck doesn't? :D**

**Sorry about the poem. It took me like half an hour to write it, and I just left it afterwards, cuz I just did. I dunno. I guess it was okay for a quicktime thing. **

**And hope you guys didn't forget about the founders! The random appearance during Hermione's sorting?**

**_Chelidonium Miniscula: _****It's a potion in Harry Potter. I found it on Harry Potter wikia, while like pshh… browsing? :P**

**Thanks for reading everyone! Please review! I'll be most happy to answer all questions, comments and everything else!xxxxx I didn't think that my story would be such a success! **

**Love you guys, you're incredible!xxx**

**Girl . x . Marauder  
(Daria) **


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: These are regretful, but truthful words. I don't own Harry Potter. **

**First of all, huge thanks to all the favouriters, followers, so on and so forth, and reviewers especially! Special thanks toooo: loves2readalways, BrightestWitchOfHerAge16, casper22, hummingpetal, ILuvchocolate, TsukiyoTenshi, , Kimmy, angel897, gemini-rose16, hermionemalfoyforever, gizzelleex3, BBauzzie, aaand multiple guests!**

**Heeeyaa guys! How was Thanksgiving for all the Canadians? :) Anyways, the writing's going great, can't wait to update every time! Sorry for the long wait, but here it is! :D Voila!**

* * *

**"I've fallen out of favour  
And I've fallen from grace  
Fallen out of trees  
And I've fallen on my face  
Fallen out of taxis  
Out of windows too  
Fell in your opinion  
When I fell in love with you..."**

**~Florence + The Machine 3**

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**CHAPTER 8**

Hermione was as excited as ever once she woke up. As always, she was the first one up, and Lily and Luna closely followed. It was a relief that Hermione didn't have to wake up Lavender or Parvati, because it was a hell of a mess when she had to. Luckily, Lily wasn't a girly-girl, was very organized and exact in everything she did. And thankfully, Harry acquired her attitude and her organization – not James' arrogance and cockiness.

Even so, Ginny compensated for Lavender and Parvati's mess by the amount of beautification products, clothes, jewellery, and other belongings including Quidditch equipment which Parvati and Lavender couldn't ever own. But there always had to by one girl like that and the others didn't completely mind it.

After taking a shower and taming her hair, Hermione was finally ready for her 'first day' at Hogwarts. Lily happily showed her to the Great Hall, just in case she got lost and they sat down at the table.

"Lily, who teaches what at Hogwarts?" Hermione asked, as she started buttering her toast, and Lily, who sat across from her lifted her head and her emerald eyes locked with Hermione's chocolate ones. Again. Those were Harry's eyes looking at her. Unwillingly, she broke the contact and stared at her toast, as she started piling jam on it.

"There's Professor McGonagall, who teaches Transfiguration; she's head of our house. Really strict – I don't suggest that you ever come to her class late, but if you do, she'll understand and excuse you the first couple times. Anyways, Professor Flitwick, the short man with the black greyish hair over there." She pointed over to Professor Flitwick was socializing with Professor Sprout, and spilled his coffee over his front, hoping that no one noticed quickly waved his wand.

She and Hermione sputtered with laughed, looking the other way as he looked at them. Hermione knew that he really loved Lily for her charm-work. "Is he always so clumsy?" the brunette grinned at the redhead, who shared the grin and winked at her.

"In anything but charms." She sniggered, as Hermione laughed out, quickly covering her mouth with her hand and earning glances from people around the table, who eyed her amusedly. "Anyways, Professor Slughorn, on the far side of the table: he's head of Slytherin. Do what you please, but he will most likely try to recruit you to his potions club. The Slug Club it's called. He's been badgering and following me around because I'm not joining. Now I just use the excuse of Head duties and following Potter around. He's a good teacher though, and he's not that much prejudiced about anyone."

Hermione nodded in agreement, but decided that even though Lily tried to cover it with malice, Harry's mum actually had mutual feelings for James, and probably even enjoyed the feeling of him following her around, and not paying attention to any other females in Hogwarts – only her.

"Just a question to the side – aren't the two Heads supposed to share dormitories at Hogwarts?" Hermione asked slyly, but at the same time regretting asking the question, because Lily looked up and stared at her curiously and raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know?" she asked, as Hermione shrugged, averting her eyes.

"I erm—read it in _Hogwarts, a History_. It's been my favourite book since I was really little: it was always my dream to go to Hogwarts, and I practically lived in the book." Lily nodded approvingly at the choice of the book, and Hermione decided that she was thoroughly convinced.

More and more people started entering the Great Hall, since classes were about to start in a half an hour. "We're supposed to. But there have been... um... ah, incidents, the last couple of years, when the Head Girl and Head Boy share dormitories. You understand..." Lily blushed a little bit, probably thinking about James. "So they decided that they would cancel the rule, until later years, when the trend goes... um... down a little bit."

Hermione nodded understandingly, and remembered reading somewhere that in the seventies and eighties there was a trend of having unprotected sex and the outcome was early children. She also had to smile at Lily's discomfort and shyness, which Harry inherited.

"What's the deal with you and James then? I don't think that you would do anything of the sort." Hermione waggled her eyebrows are Lily who scoffed and started rubbing her face, and from this gesture, which Harry often used often, Hermione realised Lily was trying to conceal a blush.

Finally she raised her head. "I would _never_ do that with that ignorant git! Mione, how could you even think that?" Hermione shrugged and continued to eat from her plate. "By the way, where's your friend Luna? And Ginny? I haven't after we left the common room." Lily noted, and Hermione realized that Luna was not with them at all.

"I don't know. Ginny's probably beautifying herself, and Luna probably went fresh-water plimpy fishing in the lake." She shrugged, continuing to eat, as Lily's eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch. Hermione looked up and realized Lily's reaction. "Sorry, she has an obsession with magical creatures. I'm sure you'll get used to it a little later."

Lily opened her mouth to answer, the doors to the Great Hall swung open and the Marauders came in. Heads turned to look at them. Sirius was the first to walk in, as he swaggered toward the Gryffindor table, flipping his hair in the process, winking to a couple of his blushing fangirls. When he saw Hermione, his eyes widened, grin broadened and he walked over to sit beside her.

Hermione pretended not to notice and Lily raised her eyebrows at that, but was distracted by James and Remus, who followed him, discussing something. Once James noticed Lily he rushed over to her, and Remus looked up and down the Gryffindor table, and finally took a seat beside James, who was pestering Lily.

Peter was the last one who came in, and it was like a cliché muggle movie: when the last person comes in, everyone starts socializing again, and doesn't care about them. Hermione felt a little bit of pain for him, because all he did was 'tag along' with them, trying to be something great, but not getting too much out of it.

"Morning, love." Sirius grinned at Hermione, as she drew her gaze back to him, who was sitting beside her at that moment. He looked as perfect as ever – hair framing his face, arrogant grin and all. He even made the school uniform look presentable. "You're sitting in my spot." He stated donning her an amused smile.

Hermione raised her eyebrows in mock-shock. "I am _so_ sorry!" she exclaimed sarcastically, as he smirked. "But, I don't think 'your' spot has your name written on it, so it cannot possible be yours." She shrugged, continuing eating.

"That is because McGonagall told us to take our names off. Something about disturbing the peace and vandilizing school property, which rightfully belongs to ole Dumbly. A curious chap he is." He chuckled, settling down.

"Mmm..." Hermione answered through a mouthful of toast, which she was still working on, and was quite determined to finish it. At the same time, Lily was lecturing James about something, telling him not to call her 'Lily-flower' and that she's not his.

Paying too much attention to Lily and James, Hermione didn't notice that Sirius leaned over to her side. He brushed her hair away from her ear, and leaned in close; he was so close, she shivered. No guy had been so close to her ever since Ron. She practically heard his smirk at her shiver. "Will they ever stop fighting?" he asked huskily, as Hermione nearly choked on the toast she was battling. At this moment, she practically felt ice shards piercing her back from the stares she was getting.

She wanted to pull away and stay like this forever, enjoying the moment of happiness, which she could live in for the rest of her life. The intoxicating smell of leather, sandalwood and rich cologne engulfed her, making her close her eyes and take in the rich smell. A new start. But no. She pulled away from him, clearing her throat and poured herself some coffee. She felt Sirius beside her tense a little bit.

"Why are Ginny and Luna sitting with the Slytherins?" Peter suddenly pointed out, and each one of the Marauders perked up.

"What are you talking about, Pete?" Remus asked unbelievingly, not even bothering to get up and check. "You're just seeing things." He reassured him and went back to examining the book he was reading previously.

"I'm serious! There's a blond girl sitting there, and then there's a redhead there as well." Peter piped up, pointing to the table, as they earned more and more attention. Even James and Lily stopped their bickering to turn around and check if Peter was telling the truth, or just trying to trick them.

"Firstly," Sirius snorted, "I'm Sirius. You're Peter. And don't worry, that's probably just by dearest beloved Cissa, and the redhead is probably one of the Slytherin gits' new bird. That's all." He finished off, but Remus shook his head, lifting it from his book.

"I hope it's not one of the Slytherin's new birds. Because that _is_ Ginny." He commented, perking his ears hear what they were saying. "What the flying heck is she doing there. They can be dangerous." He shook his head in controversy and discord.

Sirius' eyebrows raised half an inch, and Hermione's did too. What _were_ Ginny and Luna doing at the Slytherin table? They could probably get brutally murdered or poisoned for being a Gryffindor. Even the teachers looked over to the Slytherin table in astonishment, because no one from Slytherin and Gryffindor ever talked after Lily Evans and Severus Snape, unless it was for assignments.

Then it hit her. Luna seemed to always take interest in the Slytherins. She was probably planning to get Severus over to her side. Hermione stood up, looking over the crowd on her toes, and realized that Luna _was_ talking to Severus, who was very... awkwardly shifting in his seat; so was Ginny, but Luna seemed the only one comfortable and wasn't even paying attention to the curious looks.

"What are they doing?" James squinted, trying to see what they were doing and what they were saying. At the same time Remus seemed to relax, and gave James and Sirius a reassuring look and nodded his head. "What did they say, Remus?"

"Luna's trying to be friends with Snape. Ginny doesn't seem too comfortable to be there." Remus noted, looking at the Marauders, who shrugged.

"What would they want with Snivellus?" Sirius wrinkled his nose, spearing his toast and shoveling eggs in his mouth.

No one said anything after that, for there was an awkward pause, in which Lily's green eyes flashed murderously as Sirius, and then sadly in Severus' direction. In her opinion, it was a relationship with Severus she could never change. She regretted it, but it was the best way she could go: she had to leave him. There was no changing him.

Just as Ginny got up from the Slytherin table to move to the Gryffindor table, Dumbledore stood up in the front of the Great Hall, eye twitching curiously to the Slytherin table, where Luna was still seated with Severus.

"Good morning, good morning to both students and staff! I believe you all had a good night after a long journey?" he looked from teachers to students who murmured answers through full mouths. "That's good, that's good. I would like to announce that today's lessons will be canceled for all students and teachers."

Whispering broke out through the whole hall, heads swerving in all directions, students cheering and a couple, including Hermione and Lily groaning.

"Why do you think they're cancelling classes?" Remus asked the rest of the Marauders, who shrugged nonchalantly.

"Who cares, mate? Let's just have some fun for a while. We need to some time for it." Sirius winked at them, and the others nodded comprehendingly. Lily threw them a curious glance, but automatically turned it into a frown, just in case anyone noticed.

After they were finally done breakfast, Hermione and Lily headed up to drop off their bags, and after headed down to the Black lake. On the way there, Hermione thought she saw someone dressed in a deep grown cloak, sporting a muggle James-bond like hat, running off the grounds, but pushed that aside. It was a pleasant weather – the wind was blowing softly, but the heat of the end of summer was still there.

They sat down by the end of the lake, taking off their shoes and socks. Lily and Hermione lay down, looking up at the blue cloudless sky, as gentle green, almost yellow leaves floated by.

Hermione would never admit it out loud, probably not to embarrass Lily or not to get severely murdered, but she saw Lily glancing to the left out of the corner of her eye from time to time. When Hermione looked over there herself, she noticed the Marauders sitting under a tree – it was the same tree she used to sit at with Harry and Ron.

Remus was sitting and reading a book, Sirius seemed to be focused on one stop, staring non-stop in Lily and Hermione's direction, James was leaning lazily against the tree trunk and transfiguring everything he saw, as Peter clapped enthusiastically at each one. Harry had told Hermione that in fifth year, James used to show off with the snitch, but Hermione now understood that he knew Lily thought it was show-off-like, so he stopped it.

A yellow-red leaf flew by, and Lily, with a gentle swish of her wand, transformed a bunch of floating leaves into red and yellow flowers. They flapped their petals and rose higher and higher into the sky, before going out of sight and slowly falling back down.

Now Hermione understood why Professor Flitwick loved Lily so much – whenever she cast a spell or did anything else, she did it so with such care and delicacy, it seemed that the spell was fragile like glass, and could shatter at any moment.

Smiling lightly, just before the flowers fell to the ground, Hermione waved her wand and the flowers turned into red and yellow canaries, which chirped happily and playfully flew away to the other side of the lake.

Lily and Hermione turned their heads to look at each other at the same time, and laughed, exchanging happy smiles. Brown eyes connected with green and it felt as if some kind of connection went through them. The both of them exhaled and turned their heads back to face the sky.

To Lily, it was a new friend, who understood her, both academically, socially and took her in as the person who she was – a muggleborn. To Hermione, she found the person who would never find out the truth about her, but was a friend in this time – even more than a friend; someone closer to a sister even.

Lily opened her mouth to say something, but right when the words were about to come out, Ginny jumped over them and ducked behind a large rock, which stood on the shore of the Black lake. Her hair was ruffled and eyes wild as if she escaped an army of Devil's Snare.

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows and exchanged strange looks with Lily and sat up. "Ginny are you oka—"

"SHHH!" Ginny interrupted them, peeking a little bit from behind the rock. She kept glancing towards the steps leading towards the school, where Hermione saw someone wandering and looking from side to side.

"What's wrong?" Lily mouthed to Ginny, who hid back behind the rock when the person looked in their direction. Hermione shrugged, and the two girls waited until the person was gone and out of sight.

Ginny crawled out from behind the rock and slumped down on the grass in between Hermione and Lily, exhaling sharply. "Thank Merlin."

"What happened, Ginny?" Hermione asked again, partially amused at Ginny, as Lily smirked in agreement. "Seemed like you escaped an army of Devil's Snare."

"That covers the figurative meaning of it. Oh, thank Godric I hid in time and saw you two." She said in between pants, ever so slightly sitting up, and then falling back down on her back, closing her eyes. "IwasescapingAveryandhisgangt hey'vebeenfollowingmearoundevers inceIsatattheirtablethismorn ing" she said all in one word.

Lily chuckled, giving Hermione an uneasy look. "Calm down their Ginny. Take it down a notch. Say whatever you wanted to say, only slower. Much slower." She enunciated every word, making Hermione fall into a fit of giggles.

Ginny gave Lily a sarcastic look, but Lily returned it, and all Ginny could do was roll her eyes. "I was escaping Avery—"

"As in Avery from Slytherin?" Hermione put in, pointing, and pretending to remember.

"—and his gang, they've been following—"

"Huh, definitely sounds serious." Lily said mock-thoughtfully, stroking her chin, trying to hold back the smirk on her lips.

"—me around ever since I sat at their table this morning." She finished exasperatedly. "He was supposedly trying to snog me, but I ran away in time. Little prissy git. I'll get his arse later." She mumbled, eyes still closed, as Hermione and Lily fell into silent giggles.

Right at that moment, they saw Luna coming down the stairs leading to the castle and pulling someone along with her.

"What's Luna doing with poor Severus?" Lily asked, eyes widening in anticipation and shock, as Luna started dragging Severus down towards them. And yes, she was practically dragging him, as he was digging his feet into the ground, protesting to go and further and mouthing something which looked like 'no!'

Finally, they were in talking distance and Severus had a look of mortification on his face. His greasy hair fell over his face, as he was protesting, but Luna was smiling a like a maniac.

"I said no! I'm not going over there!" he exclaimed through grit teeth, taking mortified glances in Lily's direction, who stuck up her nose and looked away from him.

Anyone could see that in Severus' eyes there was something which seemed like he was trying to ask for forgiveness and was trying to say he was sorry, but it looked like Lily would have none of it.

"You're a lunatic." He exhaled sharply, averting his charcoal black eyes and glancing over nervously to the Marauders, who already started to get up, one by one.

"Oh Sev," Luna cooed, patting his shoulder. "It's not nice to call people tics. I'm not a parasite." **(A/N get it?) **Severus rolled his eyes at Luna's obnoxiousness, as Hermione and Lily got up to their feet, but Ginny continued sleeping on the floor. "Now, tell her what you wanted to say to her." Luna nodded to Lily slightly, who narrowed her eyes.

Severus mumbled something under his breath like a little child getting pestered by his mom to speak up. "Now, now, Sevvy. Speak up." Luna chided and Hermione's eyebrows rose a deliberate amount, because in her day, if anyone spoke to the potions master like that, he would probably hex them, or brew some sort of poison and slip it in their morning pumpkin juice.

"Lily." He cleared his throat, turning to Lily, who was facing him, but her eyes were looking somewhere else, the once happy, playful eyes cold and sad. "I'm sorry for acting like a complete git and toerag all that time. I shouldn't have said what I said, and I now regret what I did. Will you forgive me?"

"Severus, I—" Lily started, but was cut off by a flash of light, which narrowly skimmed Hermione's arm, and the next thing the four girls knew, Severus was flying into the lake and with a big yell and splash.

Mouths partially open and murderous glares on their faces, green, chocolate, sky-blue, and midnight blue connected with hazel, silvery-grey, amber and mousy brown. The Marauders were standing a couple meters away from the girls, and this was an epic standoff. It would've taken longer, if only there wasn't a yell of despair coming from the water.

Hermione kept focused on Sirius, who still had that stupid arrogant smirk playing on his handsome face. She was already in dueling position – her wand out, and she was balanced out.

James was the one who stepped up, raising his hands in the air. "Look, Lily, I can ex—" but right before he could finish, Lily slashed her wand.

"_Stupefy!" _she cried, as James flew back, crashing against the tree. At the same time, Sirius stepped forward, a little anxious for what would happen next, but at the same time a bit of fear came across his face, as he looked back to his fallen friend.

"Don't, Black." Hermione snapped, as he was about to address her.

"You don't need that stupid git, White." He smirked at her, but Hermione was unnerved. "Come away from him. You don't need him – he's a waste of time and space."

Hermione couldn't take it anymore. Sirius and James' rudeness to Severus had become intolerable at that time already, so she flipped with the first spell which came to mind. The spell, which helped her out so much in her time, and meant so much to her.

"_Oppungo!"_ she shrieked, swishing her wand. At first, nothing happened, and an amused smile and a grin came across Sirius' face. But suddenly, a vile and loud canary shrieking came from across the lake, and the canaries which she charmed started attacking Sirius the same way they had once attacked Ron.

Hermione grinned to herself, but at the same time Lily tugged on her sleeve urgently, an alarmed look crossing her face. "Hermione! Severus is gone!" she exclaimed, pointing to where Severus was once struggling, where there was no more than bubbles on the surface.

Cursing to herself, Hermione swiftly waved her wand over herself – her hair braided and she stood in a muggle swimming suit, with a leather wand holster attached to her leg. Remus and Peter were still watching with open mouths, as Hermione cast the Bubble-Head charm and dived into the lake, not even waiting for her friends to say a word.

"Hermione, no!" Sirius yelled, knocking away the flocks of canaries, as he tried to run towards the lake, but Luna shoved him backwards so hard, he even stumbled.

"You can't! You have to stay here. Mione knows what she's doing." She said smartly, as the Marauders exchanged horrified looks.

When she was in the Black lake in the Second Task of the Goblet of Fire, she was still conscious and saw all her surroundings, breathe, but couldn't move. It was like she was stupefied, and she saw the dangers of the lake at that time, and knew exactly where to find them and how to get rid of them.

At first, all she could see was muck and it wasn't the deepest part of the Black lake. Hopatcong and kelp swished back and forth with the current. Hermione looked around alarmed. There was still no sight of a living human body. Kelpies were swimming around, and a magical tug was pulling Hermione towards them, but she snapped out of it.

Knowing that the place was full of grindylows, she didn't risk going through the weeds, remembering the time Fleur Delacour got eliminated from the second task because grindylows inhabited the weeds.

She swam over them, and after swimming for what seemed like five minutes, she finally reached open water. Mermaids were swimming everywhere, and they did _not_ look friendly at all. For some reason, there weren't only mermaids and grindylows... There was a... man? Swimming towards her. His face was in terrible scars, and it looked like his neck was snapped in half. It almost seemed like...

A werewolf attack? More and more were rounding up, baring their teeth, directed to Hermione. Then she saw him. Sev was getting pulled down to the bottom of the lake by the people. People... people? They were dead peo—blast. Inferi. Hermione gave out an unladylike shriek, paddling backwards, but she could _not_ leave Severus to die.

"_STUPEFY!_" she cried, hitting the first Inferi with the curse, and sending him toppling backwards.

She had no time to lose – casting spells from right to left, she dove to where Severus was getting dragged by what looked like ten bodies, all suffered from certain deaths – ropes, shots, ugly stabs around their bodies, bites, a blasted brain...

"_STUPEFY!_" she yelled, scaring off all the Inferi. The mermaids and grindylows were already out of sight – hiding in their homes, probably even watching the exciting show. She made a grab for Severus. His robes were tattered, large holes and bite marks all over his body.

She started to swim up, but heard the frightening and bloodcurdling shriek of the Inferi. She yelped, as something took a grab for her foot, pulling her down and biting her ankle. The burning pain started to spread over her body, as more bites were inflicted upon her legs and arms. She tried to transform into her animagus form, but she was too weak for the maneuver.

She slowly reached for her wand, and weakly muttered the incantation of one of the most powerful blasting spells she was taught. The inferi shrieked and vanished, as she grabbed a hold of Severus, who seemed dead already, and finally resurfaced, taking the bubble-head charm off herself.

Using the last of the energy she had, she swam over to the shore, dragging Severus along with her. She saw Lily and Ginny standing infront of the Marauders, yelling, as Luna looked dreadfully in the direction of the lake.

Struggling, Hermione waded out, until she was standing at neck depth, let out a little yell and fell unconscious.

"LILY!" Luna yelled, as the two redheads spun on their heels to see what happened. "She's right there!"

Lily turned and glared at Sirius and James. "What do you two think you're waiting for? Go get them out!" she shrieked, her face red, pointing to where Hermione as slowly falling underwater.

James and Sirius looked at each other and ran into the water, retrieving Hermione and Snape. James, being the one who was looking forward for attention from Lily, swept Hermione up, who seemed like one of Lily's best friends, and Sirius was left to lift up Severus. He grimaced, wrinkling his nose, but eventually picked him up and deposited him on the shore, groaning.

James was holding Hermione up bridal style, and she was still limp and unconscious in his arms. Ginny conjured a blanket and a pillow, and James carefully put her down, stepping back and giving the girls space.

Doing the same thing, Lily conjured a blanket for Severus and carefully rolled him over, so that he was lying on it, throwing Sirius a dark glare and a worried look, as the Marauder cowered and backed off to join James. They all knew that Evans could play it rough when she tried... and James still asked for more ninety percent of the time.

Examining a still unconscious Hermione, Luna gently examined the bite and scratch marks all over the girl's body. "Ginny, go into the Forbidden Forest and try to find moss, sword-grass, deciduous fungus, and a handful of Turner flowers." The blond instructed strictly, after seeing the grave injury on both Severus and Hermione.

Ginny's eyes widened in surprise and mortification, after realizing what those grasses and ingredients were used for. "You're not serious?" she asked, deadly low, and the girls grit their teeth when they heard Sirius crack the _"actually, I am"_ part, but pretended not to notice. Luna nodded urgently and Ginny sped off into the forest, looking for everything they needed.

"Luna, why not the Hospital Wing?" Lily asked vitally, seeing the pain and worry in the blonde's now dark eyes.

"Lily, do you know what these bites and scratches are from?" Luna's eyes bored into Lily's and the redhead shook her head. "These are the bites of Inferi."

"INFERI?! ARE YOU JOKING ME?" Remus suddenly exclaimed from where he was sitting. He looked completely pale and worried about the practical 'joke' his two idiotic morons of friends tried to play. "INFERI ARE DEAD BODIES CHARMED BY DARK WIZARDS? WHY WOULD THERE BE INFERI IN THE LAKE?"

"I don't know, Remus," Luna shook her head, still examining Severus. "These bites are extremely harmful and dangerous and we have to get them healed and _fast_ or else they will get worse and worse. Inferi bites can actually cause death." She nodded, as the other boys joined into the conversation.

"The more reason we should get her to the Hospital Wing!" Sirius suddenly exclaimed, and it seemed as if he had never smirked, and in his eyes there was actually... worry and concern? Sirius Black?

"I agree!" Peter finally piped up, but everyone glared at him and he cowered, deciding to stay out of all the drama.

"We can't!" Lily exclaimed, spinning on her heel, turning her sharp gaze to pierce both James and Sirius. "You two gits are so daft! If we go to the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey will die of mortification, then pester Dumbledore why the ruddy hell there are Inferi in the lake, and what the bloody hell Hermione and Severus were doing in the lake, and it all comes down to _you_ two!" she shrieked at them, face red from anger and a pinch of concern.

James and Sirius reeled back, instantly shocked and under a cloud of angst and guilt. Sirius took interest in his shoe, when James' face mixed into joy, as he understood that deep down his Lily-flower actually cared for him.

Soon, Ginny scurried out of the forest with bunches of different grasses and plants, at which Luna nodded and Lily's eyes widened.

"I didn't know the Forbidden Forest held so many different plants! That is incredibly unbelievable! I thought only magical creatures and beasts lived in the Forbidden Forest, as well as Butobours." Ginny and Luna exchanged a look when Remus' blood all drained from his face at the mention of 'beasts', and it looked like James, him and Sirius were having a silent conversation, as Peter was dazedly standing around, watching the girls with pure interest.

Luna kneeled over, and understanding that Hermione had less scars than Severus had, muttered a charm, and Hermione's eyes snapped open. She arched her back, sputtering and coughing up water, as Ginny started to cover her wounds with different plants.

"Luna-there-inferi-I can't—" she managed through coughs, as Luna shushed her and lay her back down and Hermione nodded obediently.

On everyone's eyes, the scars started to fade on Hermione's legs, which meant that the plants were absorbing harmful substances produced by the Inferi. Once Hermione got up, still covered in different plants, she transfigured herself back a pair of robes and quickly drew out her wand, heading towards a frowning James and Sirius.

"You two bloody BASTARDS!" she shrieked, directing her wand at the two boys' throats, who edged back, nervously looking at their feet. "Why the bloody hell did you do that?! You two TWATS could've killed _him_ and _me_ consecutively as well! WHAT is your BLOODY PROBLEM?" she panted, her face red, as Sirius chuckled lightly tapping the wand resting at his neck.

"Mione—" he started, but was cut off by the infuriated brunette.

"DON'T 'Mione' me! It's _your_ fault this all happened! What the HELL is your problem with Severus?" she exclaimed, as James' eyebrows raised and Hermione understood that she would get the same talk Lily got from them in their fifth year.

"A lot of things… Actually besides the fact that he exists—"

"Sod OFF Potter!" she shrieked, trying to find a way to hurt him as much as she could. "You two are horrible! You're terrible, ignorant GITS, who think they rule the place and can have everything and everyONE they want." She continued, and felt Luna and Ginny, along with Lily as well get anxious behind her.

Hermione had the feeling they were staring at her with admiration and pride, that she was actually denting their huge egos and denying them what they thought. Completely proud of herself, she continued on, not knowing what to say. She continued rambling but in her mind she was thinking…

_"What to say… What to say…?"_

**_"One word, or name in fact – Lily."_** She heard her father tell her through her mind and thanked him for that.

"You, Black – sleeping with another girl every week. You think you're cooler that way? You think that makes you the big leader? Maybe to SOME. But NOT me. You will probably remain scurrying in and out of everyone's beds until you reach forty." She spat out at him, and he looked as if Malfoy had just snogged him in a broom closet.

"And YOU James." She wrinkled her nose in repulsion. "You disgust me. No wonder Lily doesn't even look at you twice." She scolded him, putting her hand on her chest, disgustingly looking at James, who was as red as hot iron and drew out his own wand.

"Don't. Get. Between. Me. And. Lily." He grit his teeth, pointing his wand at Hermione, who raised his eyebrows at him with an amused smirk on her face.

"Then don't get between Lily and Severus." She said sweetly, putting away her wand and turning back to her Luna and Ginny tend Severus.

Just as Hermione was walked back with her back turned to James, Lily noticed that James' face was filled with anguish, as he raised his wand and began shouting an incantation, but Lily stepped in front of Hermione and reacted quicker than James.

"Petrificus Totalus!" she cried, flicking her wand at what now seemed like a crazily surprised James, whose arms and legs snapped to his sides, as he fell over. Hermione turned at the same moment as Lily did and smiled warmly at her.

The brunette hugged the redhead with one arm, and noticed Sirius completely stony and cold. "Don't talk to me, Black. Go away. I don't want you here." She snapped as coldly as possible, as his eyes narrowed, but he stuck up his nose, concern vanishing from his face and the usual nonchalant arrogant face came back on.

"Fine." He said simply, walking over the James and dragging him up the hill away from the girls. Peter scurried hurriedly after him, constantly looking over his shoulder in alarm, mousy watery eyes full of anxiety that at any moment the powerful girls would curse him as well.

The only boy there, aside from Severus lying on the floor, was Remus who stood there sheepishly, not bothering to follow the others. Hermione raised her eyebrows, and Lily smiled proudly, as if she had just been appointed as Head Girl, and Ginny was trying to bite back a smile, as she treated the wounds along with Luna.

Luna seemed to be full on concentrated on Severus' scars and seemed more than willing to heal him as soon as possible. Remus and Ginny sat underneath the tree, when Hermione and Lily decided to do the most childish things ever – climb up it.

The two girls laughed and giggled, climbing to the very top. The cool light breeze gently blew against their skin, sending the slightest shivers across their whole body. The warm summer sun shone and reflected off the dark peaceful looking lake, which wasn't two peaceful underneath. Hermione always wanted a sister. Not someone like Luna and Ginny, but closer. Luna and Ginny had always been like her sisters, but Harry was her brother in everything but blood. And Lily seemed like that as well.

Lily felt her hand touching against someone else's and looked over, and saw Hermione's hand reaching for hers. All Lily wanted was also a true sister – who loved her, and didn't think she was a freak just because she was intelligent and a witch. Her boggart was her sister rejecting her over and over again. She had a nervous breakdown in fourth year when they studied them in Defense.

But now, she was happy. At least for a little while. And she took it for as long as it lasted – this was going to be a perfect year: she was Head Girl, would hopefully get a boyfriend, pass her N.E.W.T.s and become a successful witch in the future wizarding world. Maybe even have a couple of kids. But all that mattered was the present.

And she loved it.

~OoOoO~

The rest of that day went by fairly smoothly: Lily hung out with Hermione, to her delight, and Ginny awkwardly wavered around them. Luna started spending much more time with Severus after the inferi attack. It seemed odd enough to everyone around that a rich, pureblooded Gryffindor was spending time with one of the most unreliable people in the school, or that was how people thought of Severus.

Rumour started spreading that Luna and Severus were dating, or the same thing was going on that happened between Lily and Severus for most of their years. Some students, probably giggly fifth or sixth years started whispering around that soon James would fall for Luna and the same thing would happen to Snape as it happened in fifth year.

These were offhandedly disregarded, and everyone continued their own way of life. Hermione even noticed that that evening Lily distanced herself from James, who was still desperately trying to fight his way back into her life. Sirius didn't look at Hermione. Anyone would have assumed that he would continue his flirty attitude, but he didn't.

He simply went off to another girl and took no notice that Hermione was there. Lily stuck around Hermione in the Common Room, as Remus and James were talking in similar hushed tones on the other side of the room. Ginny had already gone to bed, claiming tired or sick, and many sixth year boys looked put out, after chasing her around the school.

There was most likely a redhead thing going around these years – Lily and Ginny were chased after. No one took too much interest of Luna, all from the rumours they heard, and about her hanging out with Severus. No one wanted to mess with Slytherins – they were a mean bunch and if you say the wrong phrase, you're done for.

Hermione was also in the market, tied with Ginny and Luna. Everyone wanted to have a piece of that mysterious, intelligent, pureblooded girl. Word had come around the school that she had dueled James and Sirius, but the stories were obviously much inversed than the action actually was. Boys called out to her, wolf whistled, and even flirted, but Hermione quickly waved them off with only a couple words. Sometimes, when she was feeling cheeky, she winked at them and answered flilrtily, which definitely meant leaving her comfort zone.

Hermione was sitting beside Lily on her secretly favourite spot, which coincidentally was Lily's favourite spot as well. Lily told her about her life before school, everything that happened, things to do and not to do, as well as other basic guidelines of Hogwarts, as the fire flickered playfully, casting their shadows on the floor.

It was warm and happy until Hermione heard squealing and giggling from the direction of the entrance of the Common Room, just as Lily was telling her about the Ravenclaw seventh years.

"You have to be careful. They're _very _dangerous. It's like a stereotypical muggle life. Be on guard when they are around you when Sirius, James or Remus or any other of the guys are talking to you." Lily whispered, cautiously looking around to check whether or not they had an audience.

Hermione giggled. "Are they really that dangerous?" but Lily's face was stony-serious.

"I'm talking from experience. Ever since Potter has been asking me out, they've been coming up to be 'throwing dirt' in my face, spreading rumours about me and trying to get Potter to get out with them." She nodded, as Hermione's eyebrows raised a small amount and her face hardened with deep thoughts.

"So what did James do?"

"He sent them away. Told them he wasn't interested and didn't want to have any business with them." Lily said, holding back a smile unsuccessfully, but Hermione ignored it, trying to not cause her any embarrassment. "So even though they try from time to time with James, they mainly go to Sirius." Lily finished, as Hermione's eyebrows stitched together and eyes narrowed.

"What i—" she started, but was cut off by giggling coming from the entrance of the Common Room. She noticed that James turned with his back to the door, and Remus tensed up, shaking his head as if what they were talking about only a few seconds ago related to what was happening at that moment.

Cold swept over her when Hermione realized that the giggly girl, who honestly sounded like a third year on drugs, was a Ravenclaw. She had long blond hair, and Hermione could see from far that she had icy blue eyes. Not warm ones like Ginny's, or mysterious ones like Luna's, but actual icy blue. Cold energy came from her, but it was all concealed by what looked like kilograms of makeup. Her skirt seemed to be shortened more than needed, as many Hogwarts girls did, reaching down a little higher than mid thigh.

Hermione wouldn't care less if she didn't see who the person behind her was. A Ravenclaw couldn't possibly come into the Gryffindor Common Room alone. Right behind her was that wretched Sirius Black, grinning and cracking jokes cheekily with her, as she flicked her long hair and laughed dragging him up to the dormitories.

But the most daring part was that as he was passing where Lily and Hermione were sitting, he threw her a smirk, making her clench her jaw and hold her fists closer to her body, and on the other side of the room, a big cough sounded out, which seemed like it came from James, who consecutively got up and left the Common Room.

Hermione couldn't believe it. That stupid moronic git! But she wouldn't pay any attention to him. She wouldn't do anything to follow him around. He was probably going up to have sex with that Ravenclaw, while sending her a 'look at me now, I don't need you' smile. That blasted, ignorant son of a—

"Hey, Hermione." Cussing mentally, Hermione didn't even notice Lily's concerned expression, or Remus trudging over to their side of the room and settling down with a book on his lap. As an answer, she grunted in reply, not being able to say any more or any less.

Remus happily led them into a conversation, as they continued discussing similar topics to the ones they were discussing earlier. When the time came and each of them already started yawning and stretching, Remus finally said.

"Listen… um… Hermione. James wanted me to tell you that tomorrow will be Quidditch tryouts tomorrow. He wants to get a head start, and well… I just wanted to tell you before time. I can walk you and er—Ginny to the Quidditch Pitch tomorrow morning if you want?" he asked hopefully, averting his eyes, and Hermione smiled in reply. She felt that James was still slightly mad at her and didn't want to talk.

"Sure Remus. That would be great." She said, standing up and pulling Lily up with her. She looked toward Remus thoughtfully, questioning him, and it seemed like he had a relieved look on his place. He raised his eyebrows at her raised eyebrows, probably knowing what she was thinking. Stupid werewolf senses.

"Um… yeah. Sirius. I'll sleep in the Common Room tonight." He blushed a little, settling down on the plush couch, as Lily looked away and blushed.

"Oh." Hermione said in an abnormally high voice. "Sleep tight, Remus." She said, as Lily muttered the same and they made their way up the stairs.

Quidditch Tryouts on Saturday morning. Awesome. Just the thing she needed after such a devastating day. And the only thing she needed was no sleep.

She lay silently in her bed thinking about what happened in the duration of the day, and even though so much had happened she preferred to be here, than the troubled world of the future with so many deaths and attacks. Inferi. Why were there Inferi in the lake? Had they been there from the start, and Dumbledore removed them when the Triwizard Tournament was held? Were they friends with the Giant Squid?

Now these completely random and off-topic questions flew into her brain, as she shook them off, flipping her pillow to the cold side, but sleep didn't find her. She felt it wavering around the room, affecting everyone except for her. She thought about Sirius – he was Harry's godfather for god's sake. And he was so openly flirting with her that morning, no doubt it was so weird to be in this time, and then he went all freaky and cruel afterwards.

The fact of getting accustomed to 1977 was impossible, and there could be only a matter of time before she probably would get accustomed to the whole situation. As much as she wanted to relax, she couldn't – they were sent here for a reason, a mission. They had to save the world a second time, only this time without any major wars. But that could wait…

* * *

**SO! First day of Hogwarts...ish... haha yeah. So did you guys like it? Reviews are appreciated ;D.**

**OMG, also, did anyone finish reading "The Mark of Athena"? It is the third book in the new Percy Jackson series. I finished it yesterday at 12:00 and was basically sobbing by the end, which was a bad combination 'cause I had to wake up at 6:30, but it was totally worth it!**

**My friends and I are all so weird at school too! It's really reassuring and takes my mind off of everything. Apparently to them, my name is Foxface, and my two friends' names are Cheesefingers and Toast. I know. We're weird. **

**Soccer qualifications are starting too! Gahhh so excited!**

**Anyways, reviews please! :D**

**You guys make my life. I swear, if it weren't for you I would've probably left this fic by now, but you're my motivation and keep me going!xxx**

**Love you all SO much! *huuuuuge hug here* :P 3**

**Girl . x . Marauder  
(Daria)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Dear friend,**

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely and sorrowfully nothing. Nothing's a harsh word. Yes, it is, and it hurts my soul so much to say this... *sighs* anywaysss...**

**Thanks for your reviews! It's been two weeks, I know but I'm really getting into the writing tempo again, and it's pretty fun :P **

**Special thanks to: , SincerelyYourSecret, angel897, loves2readalways, BrightestWitchOfHerAge16, TsukiyoTenshi, gizzelleex3, casper22, Little Strawberry RiRin Chan, arabrabM, FlyHi, hummingpetal, Mrs. Theodore Nott, osanna1234! Thanks guys! Thanks to my followers and favouriters too ;) you guys are the best!**

**Ha, so less talking now – more reading ;) enjoyy**

* * *

Chapter 9

Hermione woke up the next morning to someone knocking on the door, rather loudly and constantly. Not wanting to get up, she slumped deeper under her blanket, covering her head with her pillow. But, nevertheless, the knocking continued until it was someone practically banging on the door. Groaning, she rolled over and checked her bedside alarm clock, which read… 6:30.

She opened her eyes slightly and rolled out of bed – first onto the floor, then got up and walked through the door. The curtains in their room were still closed, and when she opened the door the light seeped in, nearly blinding her, even though it was still early morning. She was going to murder whoever woke her up so bloody early in the morning.

Waiting for her eyes to get accustomed to the light, she made out the figure of a grinning Remus, standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Remus? Whatayoudoinere?" she slurred, partially closing her eyes and shielding her face with her hand to prevent the sun from blinding her at such a young age. "Anhowaryouupeher?" she slurred again, coming into realization that he was in the girls' dormitory, when there was a spell, which prevented boys from coming up the girls' dormitories.

"Here to wake you up, of course." He grinned, as she squinted at him, trying to remember why exactly. "Oh, and the stairs, well, ask us no secrets and we'll tell you no lies." He smirked, placing his hand over his heart, as Hermione nodded in amusement, recognizing those as the same Weasley lines once from a long time ago.

"I don't even want to know. Anyways," she coughed slightly, still talking with her morning voice, but it was improving by the minute. "Why the bloody hell are you up here so early at six thirty in the morning?" she hissed at him, like Crookshanks hissed at everyone he knew once, but Remus stood there completely unaffected.

"We have Quidditch tryouts today. And if you want to have a chance of making the team, I suggest you get up, because once James does, it's not going to be a pleasant scene. While you're at it, wake the other girls up once you have the chance." He blushed a little bit, closing the door and sighing, as Hermione didn't catch any of his emotions and he was proud of it.

Remus hated being what he was, and he was happy not everyone knew, because he would be mistreated and people would be scared and prejudiced around him, which annoyed him even more. He was studious, intelligent and hard working, fit for any job, but his sickness was the only thing stopping him. Sometimes he felt sick and disgusted with himself, especially when he nearly killed Snape in the Shrieking Shack. Moments like those wanted him to curl up in a ball and hide from the sunlight, or more accurately, the moonlight.

With a deep sigh, he settled down on the couch, waiting for that mystical brunette to come down with some others who wanted to try out for Quidditch. He deliberately spent his whole night in the Common Room, because of Sirius shagging the hell out of the Ravenclaw. James had been clearly disgusted the previous night, not only with himself and Hermione, but with Sirius too. In any case, somehow Remus found himself on the floor with James practically laying on top of him and shivering.

He looked at James' sleeping figure on the floor in a fetal position – who could've known that one of Hogwart's greatest pranksters would look so sound and baby-like when asleep. Smiling smugly, Remus took the nearest pillow and threw it at James' face, hitting him directly in the nose, and the Chaser jumped up instantly.

Not even expecting such a quick reaction, the lycan leaned back, raising his eyebrows in amusement at the startled James. His eyes were glowing with pride and happiness.

"SHE KISSED ME, REMUS!" he exclaimed, jumping around the room, twirling as if Christmas was just around the corner. "I can't believe it, Moony! She _actually_ kissed me! And I didn't even ask her about it!" he howled from happiness, as Remus' eyebrows furrowed.

"Who kissed you James?" he asked, suppressing an amused smile.

"Lily did! She was dressed in a pink dress, reaching mid thigh, perfectly shaping her and—ohh—those legs. Those beautiful heavenly legs an—"

"Umm… James?" Remus cringed, partially from laughter and disgust. "A little too much detail coming from you…" he noted, as James messed up his already messy black hair. What was the point in that?

"Right! Of course, then she smacked me, but that was the best—" he cut himself off thoughtfully, his completely pleasant and prideful face turning into sorrow and chagrin, falling instantly, as he slumped and fell on the floor in mid-sentence. "Dream I've ever had…" he sighed thoughtfully, lying back down on the floor.

"That's bloody awful James. But you have Quidditch Tryouts right now, and I suggest you get everyone up and get into the pitch." Remus noted, getting up and stretching. "I've already got Mione to get all the girls up, so you get everyone else.

Faster than in a flash, James was gone, hopping on one foot, trying to put his clothes back on and averting his eyes when he came into the boys' dormitory. In less than a couple of minutes, he was already back, with his Quidditch Uniform on, people starting to come down, including sleepy boys, a yawning Sirius and a tired Peter.

Suddenly there was a lot of noise and a stampede of giggling girls ran down from the girls' dormitories, wiping off everyone who was on their way. Luckily, Remus dodged them and ducked behind the couch before they could notice him and they flew out of the door in the direction of the pitch, where everyone was already going.

A high pitched giggle and a yawn from the girls' stairs caught him off-guard, and Remus carefully lifted himself up to find Hermione running down the stairs, Ginny behind her. Hermione was giggling and Ginny was yawning in a very un-lady-like manner.

"Did you see their faces, Gin? That was the best morning prank I've ever done." Hermione giggled girlishly, swishing Ginny's hand from side to side, who was moping and pulling her gloves on.

"Amazing Mione. Just the thing I wanted. Girls watching me on the day of the tryouts." Ginny mumbled sleepily, as Hermione jumped up and down, and pointed to Remus.

"There's Remus. Remus!" she waved to him, and gestured him to go with them. "Take us to the Quidditch Pitch as you promised. And," she continued, turning to an unimpressed Ginny. "They won't be watching _you_. They'll be watching you beat Potter's arse." She smirked, as the redhead cracked a small smile.

"Thanks for the support Mione. But why did bloody James sodding Potter have to make tryouts at six thirty in the morning?" she stomped like a six year old with no presents on Christmas morning.

"Because it's James sodding Potter." Remus smiled, as Ginny rolled her eyes at him and mocked him silently, causing him to bark out in laughter.

"And why did Hermione blasted White wake up all the girls from years two to seven and tell them that James was going to be running out naked on the Quidditch Field, adding a small phrase, quote and quote," she made air quotations, "Whoever wants to try out for Quidditch, get yourself together and to the naked James on the Quidditch Pitch."

Hermione stifled a giggle, and Remus stifled a smirk, causing them both to earn a glare from Ginny, who huffed and ran ahead, exasperated. The two bookworms exchanged shrugs and followed her. Remus wondered how exactly Ginny knew where the pitch was… she was probably following the squealing girls, or some other way.

After finally getting to the pitch, getting changed into Quidditch clothes, polishing and retrieving brooms, gloves and balls everyone was waiting in the center of the Quidditch pitch. Hermione cracked a smile, when she noticed how enthusiastic James actually was – even more than Harry, and more of a match to Oliver Wood. He was already splitting everyone into separate groups, according to their positions.

"I didn't think he was going to be this serious about it." Hermione tugged on Ginny's sleeve, as the redhead was yawning and leaning against her broom. She was planning to try out for seeker, when Hermione was planning to try out for Chaser.

There were in fact numerous girls, boys also included, who decided to go, but half of them didn't even know how to mount a broomstick properly. Hermione smirked at how that had been her more than a couple of years ago. Even so many of the girls who were trying out, and had no knowledge whatsoever about flying, were only trying out because of the three Hogwarts heartthrobs.

James looked frustrated already, and was already yelling out orders and commands in every direction. After this tryout, everyone would probably be deaf at the end if they stood that way in the end. "ARIGHT EVERBODY LISTEN UP. IF ANY OF YOU ARE LOWER THAN SECOND YEAR, I REPEAT, SECOND YEAR, PLEASE GET YOUR ARSES OFF THE FIELD, I DON'T WANT YOU TO BE HERE." He roared, as a couple of weeping first year boys and girls dropped their brooms and ran off the field, covering and wiping their faces.

"ANYONE, DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO MOUNT A BROOM, THROW A BALL, OR FLY OVERALL LEAVE THE FIELD AT ONCE!" a couple of people ran off giggling, and whining. "AND WHY DID YOU EVEN BOTHER TRYING OUT, IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO ANY BLASTED THING?!" he shouted after them, face red in frustration, as they turned and shocked expressions overcame their faces. "THAT INCLUDES ANY GIRLS, WHO HAVE COME FOR CHARISMATIC PURPOSES; YOUR AFFECTIONS WILL NOT BE WITHTAKEN OR RECOGNIZED HERE." He shouted, as a huge bunch of girls groaned and cried, begging for one more chance, but James would have none of it. He quickly dismissed them, as they glared at the stands, where Lily was sitting and trudged off. Right at that moment, Hermione knew Lily was secretly smiling to herself.

"Comon, Prongs, you could've let them stayed for a little while at least." Sirius whined, as James glared at him, sending him back hiding behind the huge Remus, who was hitting a bat against the palm of his hand.

"LASTLY," James shouted, and around there were much less people compared to the amount, which came. "ANYONE FROM HOUSES ASIDE FROM GRYFFINDOR, GET THE HECK OUT OF THE FIELD." He shouted, glaring at snickering Slytherins and a couple of Ravenclaws, who laughed and ran off the field, leaving around twenty people. How did news spread so fast about the unscheduled Gryffindor tryout?

"THAT CLEARS THINGS UP A BIT. BUT WE ARE NOT DONE YET." He continued shouting, when everyone was already closely listening and fully woken up. "WE WILL BE GOING THROUGH A COUPLE OF DRILLS TODAY. THE CUTS WILL BE AT THE END OF THE PRACTICE AND I WILL POST THE OFFICIAL TEAM ON THE GRYFFINDOR BOARD."

Then he subdivided everyone trying out for the team – there were three keepers, who were taking turns since there wasn't enough room at the posts, ten chasers, six beaters and three seekers. Being a chaser himself, he knew exactly what he was looking for, what skills they had to have, and who to choose to make a better team. He divided them into two teams, which would be flying in threes, with the other two defending the posts and the keeper.

Hermione was teamed up with Logan Bell, who was in fact, as Hermione realized, Katie Bell's father. He seemed very charming – had blond hair, beautiful sea green eyes, an amazing built and was in sixth year. They were up against three other people, who seemed younger than both of them, and didn't look too experienced.

"Ready, White?" he grinned at her, as she raised her eyebrows at the James yelling at the beaters to stop 'dueling' with their bats.

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE A SEXY BEAST, BLACK! YOU'RE GOING TO PUT YOUR BAT DOWN AND GET YOUR FAT HEAD AND HUGE ARSE ON THE BROOM."

The two of them laughed at the exchange. "Of course, Bell. When am I not?" she winked at him, as if she had nothing better to do than wink to someone a couple years her junior.

"No hard feelings." He grinned at her, as she laughed flirtatiously pushing his arm, unconsciously catching Sirius' attention as he flew over the two of them. "Maybe a kiss for good luck?" he pouted, sticking out his lip teasingly, which made her cross her arms and give him a motherly stare.

"Once we win this cup, maybe." She winked at him, as James shouted for the chasers to get on their brooms. He threw the quaffle to her testily, as she swiftly caught it, throwing it back to him. Her coordination had gotten thankfully much better, for the good of her teammates and the people living around her.

They passed the Quaffle to one another for a couple of minutes, because James gestured for them to start, blowing the whistle and flying off to the side. Hermione caught the Quaffle, which was passed to her in a perfect throw, dodged one of the defending players. She noticed two of them were coming straight at her, when Logan was right at the hoops. She fake-threw, and when the two defenders were distracted, flew up, throwing it to Logan, who successfully hit it into the ring.

They grinned at each other, retrieving the Quaffle and high fived once again. In the next, what seemed hours, they got in many more goals and the defenders only stole the Quaffle two times. The keeper was a ruddy one, and wasn't the best as saving the goals. Hermione grabbed the Quaffle, after scoring another ace goal, and flew back, about to pass it to Logan, when she heard a dangerous, familiar buzzing sound coming straight at her.

She ducked and a strong gust of wind missed her by hardly an inch. Bloody bludgers. What the bloody hell was that Potter thinking? Her face morphed into shock and nervousness, as she threw the ball to Logan, hearing the whooshing coming straight to her again. She flew downwards, as the bludger missed her by a great distance. She noticed James was hovering in midair, watching them.

"Hermione! Watch out!" Logan yelled, as she ducked again, but this time the bludger was heading towards him.

"Same to you, Logan." She cast him a worried look, as he too dodged the bludger, swivelling from side to side.

"POTTER!" she yelled in his direction, until he turned up to look at her, finally distancing his thoughts and the clipboard. "ARE YOU MAD? ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US?" she yelled, as he laughed like a maniac.

"WHITE!" she heard, and turned to see the Quaffle flying at her. Quickly leaning forwards on her broom to avoid getting hit by a bludger, she heard James yell after her.

"THE QUAFFLE IS ATTRACTING THE BLUDGER. IT'S THE BEATERS' JOB TO GET THE BLUDGER AWAY FROM YOU!" he shouted, as Hermione threw the quaffle to Logan once again, racing to the posts, nearly getting hit by practicing seekers, and ricocheted the Quaffle into the rings.

Great. The beaters. One of the best beaters of Hogwarts was against her because she defended a slimy Slytherin. Amazing. Sirius would never do anything to help her now.

The keeper blocked the Quaffle this time, and Hermione wanted to sardonically applaud him – she found out that she was competitive in everything that she did. The bludger was coming at her again, but Remus thankfully knocked it off, giving her a grim smile and racing off to find the next bludger attempting to brutally murder someone.

She nearly missed the Quaffle flying at her, and heard the queasy sound of the bludger, but was too slow. Here it comes – a couple weeks in the Hospital Wing and Madame Pomfrey scolding me the whole time. But the blow never came.

"Careful, love." She heard someone. ARGH. She knew whose voice this was. But at the moment she couldn't do any less than thank Sirius for saving her from a couple broken bones or even a bashed brain. She winced at the image, but got it out of her head for the rest of the practice.

No one was expecting for it to rain in the middle of the practice. In the end, a couple hours after, all of them were soaked, muddy and ghastly, running into the change rooms and showers. Hermione dropped her broom off together with Ginny into the Gryffindor broom cupboard and ran into the change rooms.

"Arghh!" Hermione exclaimed, wiping dirt off her front and flicking it at Ginny, who snorted and flicked some at her. "I'm drenched. I feel so nasty. I _need_ to just jump into the shower right now." She flicked her sopping hair, making droplets fly all around.

"Can I join you?" she heard an arrogantly attractive voice behind her, to her dumbfoundment, Sirius Black trailing her.

"In your dreams." She snorted continuing to walk ahead, as Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Then that will be the sweetest dream I have ever seen." He purred at her, as Ginny scoffed and ran away, leaving the two of them to deal with their business.

"What is your problem, Black?" Hermione faced him, incredulous expression on her face, raising her hands questionably. "Like, shouldn't you be snogging Cynthia or whatever your tart's name is at the moment? Or is it another one already."

"Hmm…" His eyebrows furrowed, as he concentrated on the question. "I don't think that was Cynthia. It might've been Samantha or Celine. But I don't keep track." He waved her off, as she smacked her lips in disgust, casting him a dry look. "The thing I want to tell you is that I like you." He said quietly, fathomless grey eyes glistening, taking one step closer to the brunette who was now backed up against the wall. He put his palms on the wall on either side of her head, and leaned in close.

She felt herself being lost for a moment in those beautiful silver orbs. Oh how she wanted to say yes. But she couldn't. Simply snorting, Hermione leaned back and gave him an amused look. "Save your breath, Black." They stood like that for a minute and he gave her an unsure look, deciding whether or not she would say _"gottcha!"_ or _"just kidding, marry me Sirius!"_, but it never came.

Ducking under his strong  
arms, she jogged off. And she left him standing there, with both hands on the wall, near where her head was just a couple moments ago.

Those lovely moments he thought no one would know about, but secretly from around the corner, curious grey eyes were watching them.

What was _wrong_ with her? Was she going mad? How many times did she have to remind herself that it was _Harry's godfather_ she was dealing with. He was so handsome, every time he would even look at her, she would get lost in those fathomless grey eyes. She rolled her eyes, trying to wash his image away, but didn't notice that footsteps were following her even since she left Sirius standing there.

Finally she was just beside the change rooms – just one more corner to go. Her boots were squeaking, making disgusting noises and dirtying the floor even more. She hopped up, speeding into a run, as she turned the corner, ready to turn again and fly into the change room.

Feeling extremely physically junky, when she swung open the door, she slid on her heels across the change room eventually falling on her knees, pretending to hold a microphone in her hand, like a typical punk rock star of those days. Only she didn't notice that except for the running showers, there wasn't too much noise coming out. Except the annoying squealing curiously coming deeper from the change room.

Confusedly scratching her head and getting up, carelessly dumping her equipment on one of the benches, Hermione tip-toed towards the squealing and squeaking sound. And as she got closer, the sound increased, revealing not only _one_ squealer, but what seemed like a whole load of ten.

Wrinkling her nose in confusion, Hermione edged sideways along the wall, trying to hear what they were whispering excitedly about. When she was near enough, she realized what they were giggling about – there were so many of them, she didn't realize they were surrounding the door, which connected the girls' and boys' change rooms. She knit her eyebrows together, and flipping her wet hair in their direction, turned around to go and take a long-wanted shower.

The warm water trickled over her skin, washing off the dirt, blissfully clearing the brunette's mind from everything annoying surrounding her at that moment. Hermione faintly recognized Ginny and Luna's voices, as they probably left the change room. Sighing deeply, she turned off the water and wrapped a towel around her body, exiting the shower.

Hermione sat down to put on all her undergarments and robes. She pulled out her bag, where all her clothes were neatly piled, unlike the heaps of clothing she usually had to reorganize for Ginny. The brunette had completely forgotten about the squealing fangirls and when she remembered, she realized they were still there.

All of the sudden, a horrid, shrieking sound came from their direction. All movement and noises stopped; Hermione looked up, and even took the initiative to stand up and look at what was happening.

_"On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair  
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air  
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light  
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim  
I had to stop for the night."_

There was a thundering sound of footsteps, and shrieking, and through a small clearance, Hermione was shocked to realize that all the girls were running out of the change room, many of them with hands over their ears. It seemed as if they were getting chased by a Hungarian Horntail or something Luna-based.

Wrapping her towel more tightly she did the daftest thing Hermione Granger could even come up with.

_"There she stood in the doorway;  
I heard the mission bell  
And I was thinking to myself,  
'this could be heaven or this could be hell'  
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way  
There were voices down the corridor,  
I thought I heard them say..."_

She slowly opened the door, only to reveal the identical boys' change room, only lots more clothes scattered all around. There was water all over the room, wizard graffiti on the wall, Quidditch equipment all over the room, in the most randomest spots. A pair of boxers hanging off the light. Slowly and carefully, she put her hairbrush down on one of the benches near one of the extra changing rooms.

Hermione was already in the middle of room, making her way to the voice, which was coming out of the showe—wait what? A pair of BOXERS hanging off the light? Her eyes widened, and will a small shriek, she sprinted toward the door, only to find it locked. And she was in the guys' change room. With a banshee in the shower. Only a towel covering her naked body. Blast. This was _not_ good.

"You're daft, Hermione. You're going mad." She muttered to herself.

_"Welcome to the hotel california  
Such a lovely place  
Such a lovely face  
Plenty of room at the hotel california  
Any time of year, you can find it here"_

She scurried around the room, frantically searching for the exit. Probably with an expression of a madwoman, she found the exit and was about to run out the door, beside which there was disgusting icky mud, which made her cringe. She pushed her brown hair off her face, and realized she was forgetting something.

Shit.

Her hairbrush.

Voices already sounded out and she was in the middle of the room, picking her hairbrush up. Yes! Victory.

"Oi, James, I checked the girls' change room, and there's not a single soul left in there." Sounded out a familiar voice, which Hermione instantly recognized. Remus. This was getting worse. "I think you're awful singing sent them off for good." She heard him laugh and turned slowly and carefully around. She was standing right next to the showers. And Remus was coming in their direction.

"Hurry up! You know how incompetent this whole thing is? I'm going to love my dear voice forever after this." The same banshee-like voice sounded out of the shower, making Hermione wince and edge deeper into the corner.

"Oh shove off Prongs. You did magnificent. At least now we don't have perverted girls watching our change room. I feel very insecure when they stare at me."

"Ah, but Mr. Moony, maybe they're not staring at you, but at the devilishly handsome—"

"—Arrogant fool hiding in the shower with the voice of a banshee, who performed them a striptease and sent them nuts? Most probably. But believe me, if Lily finds out about this, oh, mate you're dead." Remus smirked, turning the corner.

The werewolf was already in sight, but he didn't see the freaked brunette, who was squashed in the corner, trying to erase her existence from the face of the earth. She saw him wave his wand at the shower, a blue spark of light erupting and going inside the shower door where James was.

"Only because I'm feeling extremely generous today." Remus gave a grim smile, and sat down on the bench, as Hermione was praying to Merlin to become invisible and disappear. "And also I don't want to hear your squeaky voice anymore."

"You have to admit, it worked out though. Even though I wouldn't mind what they were planning to do. You kind of ruined it, Moony. That was loads of help." He chuckled, as Remus shifted uncomfortably, starting to notice something was completely off, and not correct in the room. His ears perked, and eyes narrowed.

"Do you know what's going on with Padfoot? He left a little too early today, even thought he _knew _there were girls watching the change room." He continued in an equally suspicious tone, taking cautious glances around the room.

"Dunno. Maybe it's just—" and then James exited the shower. And he was completely stark naked. At that same moment, Remus looked over to where Hermione was sitting, her eyes widened, face blank and terrified, and it even looked as if she was petrified for the second time.

Hermione was in shock. She was dead. Only then she noticed Remus was in grey sweatpants, shirtless and shoeless. There were big scars across his perfectly-toned chest. And then there was James. This was Harry's father naked in front of her. And James turned around. To follow Remus' gaze.

Hermione didn't remember anything after that, because she ran. She ran as fast as she could away from that place. Finally, slamming the door to the girls' change room, she stood in front of her mirror. Her face was pale, and cheeks were completely red, as well as her ears. The disturbing image stood in her eyes. Argh. She didn't even want to think about it.

Trying to focus on something else, she got dressed, tried singing, dancing, hell even thinking about Sirius. This would be a disturbing image she would not get rid of. Shivering from disgust, she left the change room and started heading towards breakfast, where she was certain the Marauders were already seated, waiting for that awkward moment. Hoping Remus and James wouldn't tell Sirius about what happened, _"pfft, why should you care?"_, she didn't even notice where she was going, until she felt someone watching her. Again.

Swiftly twirling around, she looked at the face in the shadows and all she could see were beautiful silvery grey eyes.

When she looked at her interceptor's face, she was ready to jinx him after lecturing him and refusing him. "SIRIUS! I _told _you, tha—"

"You might've told Sirius, but you haven't told me anything." 'Sirius' smirked, but something was different. When he walked out of the dark corner, she was staring into the same silver-grey eyes, velvety-black hair, aristocratic features… but only this seemed like a miniature version of Sirius, and sporting not a Quidditch uniform but a green and silver tie, as well as Hogwarts robes.

"Regulus!" she squeaked, face changing into horrification and surprise. She was staring at the younger Black, Walburga's 'favourite' son, after Sirius was burnt off the Black family tree.

He raised an eyebrow, a playful smirk crossing his face. "I don't recall introducing myself to you."

"I hear things…" Hermione quickly compromised, averting her eyes, practically not noticing the pain she was experiencing, because she was completely shocked. "You're Sirius' brother." She gulped, as he nodded offhandedly.

"Ah, yes, I do resemble him. Him and his filthy Gryffindorks and mudbloods." He sneered cruelly, as Hermione let out a sigh. He was definitely a Slytherin, but only on the outside. Soon he would realize the positive components of the Light and would secretly join over, rejecting their family's crazy pureblood mania.

"In fact, you're talking to a 'Gryffindork' right now. So I believe if you have no business or goal in anything but insulting me and my house, I suggest you leave." She smirked slightly, as his eyebrows raised in shock. "You wouldn't want your friends to find out that you were interacting with one of these awful people." She smiled smartly as him, as his smirk immediately faded, and Hermione gulped in air pleasantly.

Once he recoiled from the shock, and was staring at her completely innocently, she reached out with her hand. "Hermione White." She smiled at him, as he toppled back a little bit, unsurely looking at her. She noticed his wand hand was twitching, as if he could decide whether or not to shake her hand. In the end he cautiously took it, as if checking that she wasn't playing a prank on him and shook it sincerely.

"White." He greeted her calmly. Hermione watched him thoughtfully, as he watched her. They were both in a staring contest, trying to decide whether or not to trust one another and in the end, Hermione noticed the younger Black's lip twitched slightly.

"Regulus." She smiled back, as he edged a little bit. "You know, you do most uncannily look very similar to your brother, Sirius. It's very strange."

"Ah," he sighed playfully, as they started to walk toward the hall, still in the corridor through which not too many passed in. "An unfortunate resemblance." He smirked at her, as she rolled her eyes.

"Sirius is not _that_ bad, you know? Why do you hate him so much?" she asked, not being able to hold back her curiosity, and she realized she made a mistake at that moment. Black's eyes grew colder, as he looked at her strangely.

"What's it to you?" he snapped at her, as she shrugged awkwardly. "He was the one who left! I asked him—no. I begged for him to stay, but he wouldn't. You don't understand how it is  
to lose someone so close to you! Someone you spent your whole life with! How would you know?" he cornered her against the wall, as she sank back cautiously. Was this a typical Black thing?

"You will never experience the pain I did." He whispered hoarsely to her, and stalked off down the hall. All Hermione could do was sigh. The younger Black was in agony and pain. It really seemed that he did indeed love his brother, and felt something towards Hermione because he didn't usually go off and tell any random person her really met anything about his past.

Sirius had left him. That was all he knew. Regulus stalked over to the Great Hall in such a pace, he made it there in no less than a couple of minutes. He opened the doors to the great hall and gloomily walked in, stalking over to Severus Snape... no. That Loony girl was sitting with him. Glancing at the table, he decided no one was there, and headed off to the Slytherin Common Room.

Time flew – in no time he was already in the Slytherin Common Room, in his chambers, surrounded by cold stone walls, icy green and silver colours everywhere. He plopped down on his bed, wiping a single tear off his face. Quickly jumping back up, he pulled out his trunk from underneath his bed, and dug through it, until everything was turned over and he was at the bottom of it.

There it was – a picture of them. Them having together in Grimmauld Place. The times when everything was perfect – they weren't sorted into houses at all, Sirius didn't start to realize the crazy pureblood mania... They were young and innocent. And he wanted it that way for the rest of his life. He continued staring at the picture.

Never in his life did he think he would cry over his brother. His big brother, who was such a role model to him, and left him for the right thing. Regulus regretted his decision of not choosing to go with him. Sirius asked him hundreds of times. Sometimes, they would lie under the starry sky on the roof and talk. Just talk. About the strangest thing one could ever come up with.

Up there, on that roof, they talked about their dreams, ambitions, thoughts, dares, crushes – everything. Everything was perfect. He could still remember that night. That cold dark night Sirius left to the Potters'.

_It was a warm starry night. The two of them were once again lying on the roof, facing the sky and the stars. It was completely silent. Peaceful. You could slightly hear people talking and laughing on the streets. The nice warm breeze blew against Regulus' skin, sending pleasant goose bumps all over his body. _

_He looked sideways to his brother. His big brother. He smiled inwardly. Even though Sirius had built himself quite a reputation, and became a little bit of a git, he was still the same old Sirius when they came home – cursing their mum, setting off fireworks in the living room when she was taking her afternoon nap, bewitching her teacups to dance the polka when she was drinking her tea, and Reg just couldn't bite back a smile at everything. Sirius was his idol. _

_"You shouldn't have cursed that Hufflepuff first year." Sirius spoke out suddenly, interrupting Reg's happy thoughts. "You're not making yourself cool that way. Don't make everyone look at you as if you're Slytherin's biggest bully. Don't build yourself a bad reputation." he lectured him, turning slowly, as Regulus sighed. _

_"I know, but that was two years ago. I stopped, Siri. I stopped right after second year: after you told me. I'm sorry about it still. I know I was being a jerk then."_

_"And sometimes you are still one." Sirius added on with a slight smile. _

_All Regulus could do was bark out a laugh and wink at his older brother. "It comes genetically." He nodded solemnly. _

_"Ah..." Sirius trailed off, obviously in deep thought. He was different when they were at home. Sure, he was still the Hogwarts prankster-extraordinaire, but at home he was more put down, and much nicer to him, which Regulus enjoyed. Usually, Sirius would curse any Slytherins in the castle, sometimes accidentally also tangling Regulus in the mess, but at home, everything was fine. But exactly at that moment, the air seemed to drop a couple of degrees. _

_"Siri?" _

_"Hmm?" _

_"What are you thinking about?" _

_"I dunno Reg. I was just really thinking about all this pureblood bollocks. It really ticks me off lately. Mum is being a bint, and I can't really control it lately." He sighed, as Regulus' ears perked up, and his eyes widened, as he looked at his big brother, who was definitely heading somewhere. _

_"Keep going..." he urged him on, as Sirius seriously got up onto his elbows, eyes dead serious, partly grave, but slightly inspired. Grey bored into grey, and Sirius quirked an eyebrow. _

_"You know what I'm thinking, Reg. Let's go. Run away." Sirius' eyes lit up, as Reg quickly looked away, focusing on a dimly flickering streetlamp. He practically felt Sirius' excited aura engulfing him – it even felt over intoxicating._

_"Where would we go?" Reg rasped, and cleared his throat, thinking of his mother. If they did, they would both definitely get blasted off the Noble Black family tree, and he was never the type of son who would disobey his mother... _

_"The Potters'. They're the nicest family around. They would welcome the both of us!" Sirius edged near Reg, grabbing hold of his collar and shaking him in excitement and anticipation. "Can you imagine! We would have a family! A _real_ family! Not the idiotic scoundrel we call home. Come on Reggie! Together." _

_The older Black held out his hand to his baby brother. The one he cared about his whole life. Regulus, on the other hand, was torn. He was thoroughly convinced that the Potters were a nice family, and that they would welcome anyone anywhere. But at the same time, he couldn't. He imagined his life living away from his mother. It would be a blast, but Sirius was always loved most, cared most about, and no one even paid much attention to Regulus. _

_This was his chance to shine. To be the loved son of Black. He could feel Sirius already starting to hate him. Those intelligent grey eyes were looking at him with concern, as Regulus still averted his own. From the corner of his eye, he looked at Sirius. His face was stony, blank, and a little... hurt?_

_"Fine." His voice cracked. Regulus urgently looked at his big brother, who stood up and left the roof. He was all alone. The wind now chilled his skin in the most unpleasant way, as if urging him to leave, and even scolding him to go. _

_He looked back – Sirius was already gone. Should've he gone? Was this a mistake he was going to regret his whole life? It seemed like mere minutes he sat on the roof and finally jumped up. Yes. He was going to go with him. He was going to go to live with the Potters. _

_Their mother was at a tea party with the Nott's at that time. Reg ran across the roof, jumping into the attic, inhaling the old smell or books and scrolls, and ran toward Sirius' room. He was too afraid that his big brother had already left, but he heard deep mumbling and rustling in the room. Hopefully he swung the door open, with a huge grin on his face. _

_"Sirius I—"_

_His face fell into his throat. His throat fell into his heart. His heart fell into his stomach, and his stomach seemed to disappear. That wasn't Sirius' kind brotherly face staring at him – it was Kreature's. _

_"Master Sirius is not here. It appears that he has left. Arrogant, unworthy, unthankful cretin. He'll pay. Oh, yes. Master Sirius will pay. When only my mistress will find out about this..." Kreature cackled cruelly, rubbing his gnarly old hands and disappearing, muttering insults and such about Sirius, completely ignoring Regulus being there. _

_For the first time in his life, Regulus' eyes started prickling. These weren't things he was familiar with – these were tears. He was crying. He fell over on his knees, sobbing, looking over Sirius' wonderfully charmed room, which could never be undone. The perfect room of his perfect brother. Who was gone. Gone forever. _

_All those times they spent with him. They all mattered to Regulus. Now it was all gone. _

_He cried for all the times the kids bullied him on the playground. He cried for all the times his mother and father whipped him and punished him. He cried for the moments he wasted on complete nonsense, such as chasing around girls, who chased his brother. He cried for everything else he could – the friends he made, what they would turn into, the friends he lost, and lastly, his most precious and prized possession – his friendship with his brother. _

_He knew things wouldn't be the same after that. And they weren't. Once their mother came back home, the first thing she did, after overturning the house, was blasted Sirius off the family tree. That was a very painful sight for everyone, except her. Everyone, meaning Regulus and his thoughts. Only the two of them. _

_Everything started to get worse after that – Regulus started to get babied by his mother, as she pronounced him as the heir of the Blacks. He felt proud that he actually did some good in the family, but at the same time, he felt sick. He spent hours puking in the bathroom, crying, regretting and remembering. _

_Sirius hadn't spoken to him after that. Regulus tried so hard to muster up courage; to come up to him and tell him that the decision he made on the roof wasn't final, and he made a stupid mistake, but he couldn't. There was a reason he wasn't a Gryffindor._

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**Soo... Hahaha sooooooo... how did you guys like it? :) I feel like I should be going in a more of a Sirius and Hermione relationship way, but since she's pissed now, it's not really gonna happen for a while. She's probably gonna make him jealous before he can't stand it, but that is for you to see ;) **

**Um... yeah, so Hermione and Quidditch, huh? Dw it's still gonna be Hermione/Sirius, not Hermione/Logan or Hermione/Remus. Just clarifying that...**

**Also, um... awkward scene between Hermione and James... I don't even remember how I came up with it. But also kinda emotional for me to write about Reggie :( ehh... w.e. everything will be fine **

**Thanks guys, reviews are appreciated ;) *wink wink, nudge nudge***

**Love always, **

**Charlie**

**HA NOT! I unfortunately don't own the Perks of Being a Wallflower Either. Darn. **

**Love you all ;) xx**

**Girl . x . Marauder  
(Daria)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I siriusly own nothing. Not even that. :P**

**Hey guys, sorry about the slight delay! November's a pretty busy month! We're already getting ready for Christmas now, after Halloween ended... you know... Christmas decorations, music, so on and so forth! **

**Thanks for your reviews and favourites and follows! Special thanks to gizzelleex3, TsukiyoTenshi, loves2readalways, casper22, BrightestWitchOfHerAge16, hummingpetal, angel897, HisSecretLover18, jazmynkim, laeeyore93 for your feedback and comments! Means a lot to me! Thanks to you all! Mwah! **

**Hope you enjoy this chapter! A part of it took quite a while to finish, as well as some research. :)**

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**"The worst things in life come free to us..." ~Ed Sheeran (A Team)**

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**CHAPTER 10**

The weekends went by as quickly as they came. Hermione avoided Sirius as much as she could, even thought it wasn't in the slightest possible, since he shared all his classes with her. Moving around the school seemed like a whole system – after the weekend, barely anyone was paying attention to the trio, even though they did receive curious glances, but at that moment, all concentration was set on the Marauders. Two weeks of school  
passed already, but the most exciting part was still to come. The D.A.D.A. teacher had been absent both of the times the N.E.W.T. level classes were supposed to have lessons, and this irked a big part of the student body.

Sirius tried to talk to Hermione plenty of times, but she always managed to slip away. Thankfully, Hermione always had the Marauders' map (much modified and advanced version) with her at all times, and usually saw who was coming towards her – wand at the ready, set and equipped to hex anyone who disturbed her.

But the strangest part was that the Marauders didn't prank anyone or anything at all. That was the reason why everyone was on guard everywhere they went. Thankfully, neither James, nor Remus mentioned the incident to anyone, and Hermione didn't mention it to anyone either, even though all three of them reddened whenever together, or when any naked-related or sexual joke was told.

Hermione woke up groggily on that cold morning. For September it was fairly cold that day. Even the window was covered in mist, and you could see a huge amount of mist over the lake. Pleasant. Plus, the girls only woke up a half an hour before classes started. No one wanted to get up that morning, and so they saw when they entered the Great Hall.

Surprisingly, the Marauders were already seated at their normal spots, each one of them with elaborate wide-eyed grins across their faces. James messed up his hair when he saw Lily, making her agitatedly roll her eyes, Remus blushed slightly at the sight of Hermione, but went back to normal afterwards, Sirius was smirking with his chin propped on his hand, and Peter was as always confused. He obviously didn't understand why his mates were grinning from ear to ear.

Hermione stopped and looked at all the girls, who gave her a look back, saying _'brace yourselves'._ They walked over, and sat in their usual seats beside the boys, and Luna walked away to sit at the Slytherin table, which became more of a habit after Severus nearly drowning and dying.

"Morning boys." Ginny smiled cheerfully, plopping down beside Remus, who gave her a happy look. Sirius raised his eyebrows and grinned doggishly.

"Morning Ginny." They all chorused.

"Why the procrastination 'tis fine morning?" Sirius asked, as the girls maintained a blank face each. They looked at the four boys blackly, even thought Peter was sharing the look and whispered something to James, who waved him off.

"No. Why? Something different?" Lily asked calmly, picking up her mug and pouring some steaming aromatic coffee and sipping it elegantly, still not showing a sign of something being off.

"Well, yes..." James urged them on, leaning further over the table, waving his arms, as all three of them raised their eyebrows.

"But, Jame—" a confused Peter started, as he nudged James who turned around and shook him off irritated. Peter leaned over to Remus, and whispered something in his ear, even thought Remus already heard it when Peter was saying it to James.

"Not now, Pete." Remus whispered back, drawing all his attention back to them.

"Ohh! You mean that!" Hermione exclaimed cheerfully and beamed at James a Mrs. Weasley-worthy beam. "Do I really have toothpaste on my face again, James?" she batted her eyelashes, as Sirius muttered something, stabbing his sausage and shoving it into his mouth, as Lily gave him a disgusted look, instantly making him choke.

"No, Mione. Lily-flower?" James asked sweetly, swallowing his eggs and bacon, as Lily threw him an aggravated look.

"Yes, Potter?" she sighed simply, expertly twirling her fork in her hand, and Hermione hoped that she wouldn't let it go, and it wouldn't fly straight into James' eye, but James paid no attention to that whatsoever.

Sirius snorted amusedly. "Aren't you cheerful today, Lily." He smiled, as he received two identical glares – one from Lily and the other from James, as well as a well-delivered nudge making him fall off the bench. James laughed queasily at Sirius and then flipped back to Lily.

"So, Evans." He continued importantly, as if this was some kind of life-or-death situation. "Can you please tell me, why you were late this morning?"

"Late?" Lily shrieked unbelievingly, flipping her fiery red hair. "LATE?" she shrieked again, earning some snickers from neighbouring tables, but it seemed like she didn't care at that moment. The only thing she cared about was the 'moronic git' sitting in front of her, either trying to seduce or embarrass her.

"I wasn't late, Potter." She spat at him, as he recoiled slightly at the unusual sourness of her tone. He heard snickers and howls of laughter from the Slytherin table, seeing Nott, Mulciber, Avery and some Slytherin girls snickering at them, faces all red from laughter.

"Yes you—"

"Hermione," Sirius said through gritted teeth, staring at Hermione, who raised her eyebrow. His eyes drifted and he looked a little uneasy. Hermione wrinkled her forehead and turned around, trying to follow his eyes, finding out that he was not staring at her. "Why is Black staring at you?"

Hermione snorted in disbelief. "I dunno, Black. Why don't you ask yourself that?"

"No." Sirius snapped suddenly, making Hermione shift awkwardly at his unpredicted roughness. "Regulus." He muttered that name. "Regulus, my brother. Why is he staring at you? He's burning a hole in your back."

"Hermione decided that you were way out of her league," Ginny pressed in nonchalantly, compensating and not letting Hermione answer. "And when she saw Regulus, she fell completely in love with him 'cause she has a thing for Slytherin cuties. Then she snogged him in a broom closet after Quidditch practice. Now she temporarily calls him Reggie-bear and is pregnant with a lovechild they're planning to call Buffy." She finished happily, overlapping her fingers and putting them on the table, watching Sirius' face morph from shock, to disgust, to jealousy, no not-understanding.

There was a slight silence. "What?" Sirius asked again, knitting his eyebrows together, partially closing his eyes and moving his head closer so that he could hear better.

Ginny stared with wide surprised eyes. "You didn't hear any of that?"

"No, I—"

"Then why are you asking?"

"Hermione are you serious?" Sirius asked her, dead serious, as if he was going to kill someone if the answer was otherwise.

"No, that would be you." Hermione grinned at him, giving him a slight wink. _Darn it, why am I giving him false hope?_ "Of course it's not true, Sirius. You need to learn how to relax a little bit." She smiled, rolling her eyes slightly.

"James?" Remus sighed, but had a mischievous glint in his eye. James snapped his head away from his conversation with Lily and looked at Remus knowingly. Then the two of them looked at Sirius, who nodded, smile quirking at his lips, as he dropped his chin on his elbow, and watched the Slytherin table closely.

Lily looked at Hermione cautiously, but Hermione just bent her head, knowing there was nothing to be done. Then Lily looked at Ginny who shrugged and bowed her head knowingly. Lily looked over worriedly to where Severus and Luna were sitting. At that moment, James raised his wand into the air, Sirius' followed and Remus' did too. They swished them in a synchronised motion and muttered an incantation.

Suddenly, the hall was draped black – the windows were covered with black and nothing was seen or heard. Hermione felt a tinkling feeling over her body, and could hear Sirius' smirk, as he squeezed her hand safely, which she wanted to pull away, but something was holding her back.

In a flash of light, one blinding spotlight shone to the center of the room, where one spot was illuminated. Footsteps were heard and whispering flew over crowds of people, who were curiously watching the whole scene. When the footsteps stopped, everyone gasped, snickered and wolf whistled. There were four Slytherins – Snape, Mulciber, Nott and Avery standing in a diamond shape.

But the most hilarious part yet was that each one of them were wearing cuff winged catsuits, with a frilly collar, the legs and arms also had the same frilliness, Hermione could've only imagined in cheesy 70s shows, and for _women_. Several laughs and wolf whistles sounded out across the room, and brilliantly synchronised clapping, but the boys stood unnerved.

It seemed as if Avery, Nott's and Mulciber's hair grew, as Snape's became shaggier and browner. It looked like they were wearing lipstick and thick black eyeliner, possible even a smidge of mascara. But they stood there, heads up, as if nothing was happening. All of the sudden...

_"Is this the real life?  
Is this just fantasy?  
Caught in a landslide  
No escape from reality"_

Whistles and clapping sounded out, as everyone applauded this well coordinated acapella group. Hermione laughed out, clapping and giggling, and in the darkness it was hard to see, but Hermione knew Lily was cracking a smile too.

_"Open your eyes  
Look up to the skies and see"_

And then, as Hermione knew, it was Snape's turn to sing. And for some reason, he didn't sound as bad as she had expected – the awful monotonous voice turned into a wonderful singing one.

_"I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy"_

It was hard to see, but it seemed like the boys couldn't change their emotions and remained the same way as they stood at the front – embarrassing themselves and their house. Some of the Slytherins were probably having quite a laugh, when others were rubbing their heads in irritation at the Marauders. Oh the irony and embarrassment of having your own house sing Muggle music!

_"Because I'm easy come, easy go  
A little high, little low  
Anyway the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me, to me"_

Hermione chuckled, for once enjoying the pranks of the Marauders. But she had never seen them, so she couldn't judge them at all. All she knew about them was that they were horrid and most of the time they bullied Severus. But at this moment, in this gloomy morning, she wanted nothing less than the entertainment she was getting provided with at that moment.

_"Mama, just killed a man  
Put a gun against his head  
Pulled my trigger, now he's dead  
Mama, life had just begun  
But now I've gone and thrown it all away  
Mama, ooo  
Didn't mean to make you cry  
If I'm not back again this time tomorrow  
Carry on, carry on, as if nothing really matters"_

Snape's magnificent solo came on, with Avery accompanying him, as a guitar magically appeared in his hands. Who knew the Marauders had a taste in muggle music? The pureblood Marauders, the best pranksters in the school, pranking them with muggle music? I seemed hilarious, especially in the way of the Slytherins.

_"Too late, my time has come  
Sends shivers down my spine  
Body's aching all the time  
Goodbye everybody - I've got to go  
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth  
Mama, ooo - (anyway the wind blows)  
I don't want to die  
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all"_

Snape got on his knees as a typical rock star would, and pointed somewhere into the crowd, to what seemed like the Ravenclaw table, who grossed out and grunts and groans were heard from them, but he continued singing, as if nothing mattered in the world. Hermione felt weird movement beside her, but didn't bother looking. It was probably Ginny looking for her wand or something. And that part ended with an amazing guitar solo from Avery.

_I see a little silhouetto of a man  
Scaramouch, scaramouch will you do the fandango  
Thunderbolt and lightning - very very frightening me  
Gallileo, Gallileo,  
Gallileo, Gallileo,  
Gallileo Figaro – magnifico_

In some way, Mulciber was doing the excellent squeaky part of the song, in a high pitched voice, when Nott was doing an extremely low, off-key one, which didn't seem to be written in the music. Now they were singing as an opera, standing with proper posture, opening their mouths correctly and singing with extremely accurate diction, which no one could ever picture. Their jaws were moving up and down at an extremely rapid pace.

_"But I'm just a poor boy and nobody loves me  
He's just a poor boy from a poor family  
Spare him his life from this monstrosity  
Easy come easy go - will you let me go_

"Completely accurate, Mr. Prongs. Don't you say?" Sirius' voice whispered to James, who giggled uncontrollably.

"Indeed, Mr. Padfoot." James grinned back. "He _is_ in fact a poor boy and no one loves him. Poor Snivellus. Singing opera star since 1977." He chuckled, and yelped afterward, as Hermione guessed Lily kicked him or did something on the basis of that.

_Bismillah! No - we will not let you go - let him go  
Bismillah! We will not let you go - let him go  
Bismillah! We will not let you go - let me go  
Will not let you go - let me go (never)  
Never let you go - let me go  
Never let me go - ooo  
No, no, no, no, no, no, no -  
Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go  
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me  
for me  
for me"_

An insane guitar solo came on, as Mulciber and Nott were too holding guitars and the three of them were rocking it off.

_"So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye  
So you think you can love me and leave me to die  
Oh baby - can't do this to me baby  
Just gotta get out - just gotta get right outta here"_

Everyone cheered at the guitar solos, clapping and getting up, and behind the boys everyone could see Professor Dumbledore's beard move, as he too got up to clap.

_"Ooh yeah, ooh yeah  
Nothing really matters  
Anyone can see  
Nothing really matters - nothing really matters to me_

Anyway the wind blows..."

After they struck the last chord, everyone clapped, and cheered and clapped once again. The lights turned on and the four boys took identical bows, and everyone was shocked to see that they were dressed in the same style clothes as the singer-Slytherins were.

Horrified murmurs and a cold feeling of euphemism spread across the students, as everyone turned around to glare at the Marauders, who were smiling and bowing cheerfully, as if nothing was happening, but they too were wearing muggle rock costume's. Everyone's hair was fluffed and was magically extended so that everyone would have the rocker look, except for James, who charmed his hair to remain as it was, which looked very silly in comparison to everyone else.

But the most side-splitting part was seeing the teachers, who were indeed also sporting rock costumes. Especially Dumbledore. But the old coon seemed to be having the time of his life. He was out of seat, clapping enthusiastically, examining the satin costume on him.

"Excellent entertainment for this dull breakfast, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Remus, and of course Mr. Pettigrew. I was about to think that the legendary Hogwarts pranksters were no more." He said soberly, making McGonagall's jaw drop to the floor, and he received a couple of chuckles from the other teachers, who looked like they were trying to unsuccessfully transfigure their clothes back.

"Albus! Stop encouraging them!" McGonagall gasped in complete shock, probably thinking that Dumbledore was officially off his rockers.

"My dearest Minerva. You never had a taste in joy and happiness. It's time you get introduced to some." Dumbledore beamed at McGonagall, causing her to go red all over.

"I have, over the past six years, and I still can't get a full grasp of it." she muttered softly, but sharply, so that only the person with the sharpest hearing in the room, who was probably Remus, could hear what she said.

"I do quite like this. Yes, indeed I do." Dumbledore beamed merrily at the four boys and sat back down, playing with the frilly parts of the costume, as if he had never experienced something as fun as this before.

McGonagall looked thoroughly irritated and annoyed, glaring at the Marauders dully, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. Her sharp gaze went from each one of them to the other, as Peter cowered dully at her gaze, but the other three stood cheerfully staring back.

When it seemed like she was about to explode, James jumped onto the table and saluted her with an extravagant bow. "My dearest Minnie. How I must say, muggle clothing really does suit you marvellously. Don't you agree with me, Mr. Padfoot?" he asked cheekily, turning to Sirius who winked at McGonagall in a very flirting manner.

"Indeed I do, Mr. Prongs. My dearest Minerva," at this moment, Hermione swore she heard Professor McGonagall mutter "that's Professor McGonagall for you" but didn't bother with it, since everyone was already so thoroughly focused on Black. "I believe that you should completely change your attire out of those dark, heavy robes you wear the whole day, and take on something much… ah… how do I say this? Body-hugging." He winked at a giggling Hufflepuff, and turned to Remus. "Mr. Moony? What is your answer on this accord?"

Remus slightly blushed, but played along as well. "Mr. Padfoot, I full-heartedly agree with you. Minnie, the colour white suits you beautifully. A shade it is, in fact. Perhaps you would consider teaching transfiguration in that attire? I am sure that much more ignorant students would consider paying attention in class and learning about the miraculous rules of transfiguration, which you so kindly teach us, isn't that right, Mr. Wormtail?" he said smartly, as Peter fidgeted a slight bit, shuddering and facing Professor McGonagall, who seemed to be mentally pressuring him not to take part.

"Er—of course, Mr. Moony." He stuttered slightly, trying to regain his confidence. "Minnie, you look stunning, as always, and I deliver my compliments to for the millionth time." He bowed slightly, as all the Marauders face the teachers with beams on their faces.

McGonagall's nostril's flared, and her lips thinned into a solid single line. "Potter, Black. Detention, my office for the whole week." She snapped at them, shooting a death glare in the direction, and Peter seemed to sigh in relief that he didn't get pulled into the fuss.

"That again, Minnie?" James waggled his eyebrows, as Lily gave out a disgusted sound from behind his, which he purposely ignored. Not even the girl of his dreams was going to ruin his and his friends' act. "I thought last time you said that we weren't gonna do it anymore." He drawled on, making McGonagall's face pale as she screeched.

"Enough, POTTER! Make that TWO weeks!" she was already on her feet, ready to get out of the table and probably suck James' soul out like an unfed dementor.

"But, Minerva!" Sirius interrupted, doing his puppy dog eyes everyone fell for except for a couple of girls and, obviously, the teachers. "I thought we had something between us! You're giving James _two_ weeks? You do understand how lonely" he exaggerated "I'm going to be without you."

Just as it seemed like Professor McGonagall was about to explode, she was interrupted by a slight flash of light, and a song blaring on.

_You can dance  
You can jive  
Having the time of your life  
See that girl  
Watch that scene  
Dig in the dancing queen_

Everyone started cheering, and the Marauders once again stood up and did a bow. Only then did everyone noticed that both the quarto's outfits and their own changed into colourful hippie jumpsuits, and Snape and Nott seemed to be sprouting very feminine blond and brown hair… Everyone howled in laughter as they moved through the aisles between the tables, doing various dancing movies and exited the halls, their voices still echoing and bouncing off the walls.

Hermione laughed nonstop, and now even Lily was smiling and the prank. The Great Hall was already draped with hippie colours, streamers and balloons.

The brunette looked at Sirius as if she could kiss him at the moment, and through giggles managed, "How—how? This is—"

Sirius' face morphed into concern and a strike of seriousness flew over. "I understand if you don't like it, Hermione, I'm sor—"

But Hermione didn't let him finish. She cut him off before he could go off and apologize to her for something. She didn't even understand what for. "Sirius stop." She put a finger over his lips as James threw streamers over them. "This is bloody brilliant!" she exclaimed, as his face lit up instantly, and she pulled out streamers out of his hair.

Glancing around, she saw James trying to say something to Lily, but she wouldn't have any of it. Hermione assumed that even after the advanced spells and fantastic prank, beneath, Lily was still very hurt about what happened by the lake the previous week. And she probably wouldn't get over it for a long time. Hermione regained a painful expression at Sirius' nasty behavior and gave him a cold look, turning away from him.

"You really like it then?" Remus asked her, as she rolled her eyes, putting her hands on her hips.

"Of course I do! It's amazing! It's such an advanced magic! I was surprised that you could even do it! Not too many seventh year students can." She added on seriously, with a hint of pride and approvement.

"Well, it's going to last the whole day. They will be singing all the muggle songs we put into the spell, and every time, everyone's clothes will change, and so will the decorations of each classroom. It was James' and Sirius' ideas." He explained, as she nodded. "Come on, let's head to class." He smiled at her and went ahead, walking side by side with Ginny, as Hermione followed.

As much as Hermione was enthusiastic about that day of school, they had the worst classes anyone could schedule in one day – to start off that wonderful day, they had double N.E.W.T potions. Considering the fact that Slughorn hadn't been through all the awful memories and sticking up to Harry all the time, he wasn't as bad as he could've been. Of course, he always praised Lily, but on the other hand, Hermione was happy to get the attention off of her shoulders. Of course, she still answered questions, but she wasn't that much of a potions wiz as Lily and Severus were.

Right after Potions, which seemed to go on forever, as they reviewed different types of potions and their components, before starting the physical brewing, they had a History of Magic, where Professor Binns once again drawled about Wizard-Warlock rebellions, which Hermione, Ginny and Luna had studied in their seventh year as well.

Many students were falling asleep, as if to a lullaby, but the Ghost didn't particularly care – nothing mattered to him, especially if his students failed the class. Maybe that even brought pleasure and enthusiasm to him, but no one was probably bothering to experiment with him. Plus, his eyes widened so much when the class started changing colours, costumes, and _The Slimy Slythers_, as everyone started to call them, walked into the room, wearing pink costumes and singing _Love Machine_ by _The Miracles. _

As Remus had told her, after dinner by the end of the day, the prank wore off and everyone was back in their normal uniform, though the school did seem slightly dull with no colourful decorations or jolly carollers.

Lounging in the Common Room never seemed too fun – Luna was in Divination with Peter, Lily was off with a couple Hufflepuffs studying in the library, where James seemed to be also, deliberately dragging a chain of giggling girls there too. Sirius and Remus were probably somewhere setting up a prank, and Ginny was chasing the snitch in the Quidditch Pitch.

Finally, she was peaceful and alone. No one, or nothing to bother her – just her and the flickering fire, almost speaking to her. The flames licked the logs warmly, as the logs crackled, as if in laughter. A scene like this one simply tugged a smile on Hermione's face. So calm. So peaceful. Slowly, she closed her eyes, not even noticing, and she was already in a scene.

_Once again, she was running through the valley of flowers – there were more and more. All sorts – daises, bluebells, wildflowers, everything! The vivid colours smudged into an abstract blur as she spun around, giggling and laughing, eventually falling on the ground. _

_Warm seeped into the folds of her white dress, as she contently stretched out of the lush green grass, which tickled her ears, hands and legs. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath through her nose, inhaling all the fragrant aromas at once. Green grass. Sweet flowers. Fresh dirt. A slight whiff of the ocean. The sun continued to warm her; it was a pleasant weather, but once again, she got up and started moving forward._

_The scene was as beautiful as it had been the last time. She wandered and wandered, until she finally came into view of a girl dancing in the field alone. That smiling girl. Hermione grinned to herself and ran down the lush fields, not even controlling her speed, but she felt like she was flying on wings. _

_She ran and the girl turned around, grabbing Hermione's hands, as they spun around in a circle, finally collapsing on the ground, breathing hard. _

_As beautiful as ever, the girl turned to her, and their eyes connected. Both of them got up, and linked arms, walked down the hill. The girl was still as beautiful as she was the last time. Her beautiful blond hair was once again in braids tied with two blue ribbons, and her dress was also a light blue colour. Her eyes were sparkling cheerily, but with a hint of mystery. Still, something was wrong with her. Something Hermione couldn't understand. _

_"How have you been doing, Hermione? How is Hogwarts?" She asked suddenly, and Hermione didn't even stop to think how much time had passed. The girl was inquiring her with her blue eyes sparkling curiously, as if a young child, longing for an exciting story. _

_"Er—Good I guess." Hermione commented plainly, not knowing what to say. "Have you been to Hogwarts?" she asked, not being able to think of something else to say. _

_"Oh, no. I've heard lovely stories from everyone I visit in their dreams. It does seem quite fascinating – the teachers, the school itself, the students…" she trailed off, smiling simply, as Hermione bit her lip. _

_"I didn't catch your name last time. Can you please tell me it this time?" Hermione smiled hopefully, but the girl shook her heard sorrowfully, as she picked up a flower and started plucking off the leaves, delightfully smelling it. _

_"That, I cannot tell you, as much as I want. If I was allowed, I guarantee you, I would have already told you my whole history, exciting stories, and everything else that has happened in my life." She said simply, touching the flower as it turned into a butterfly and flew away. "But now it's your turn. Come, sit with me." She giggled, pulling Hermione's hand as they ran toward the beach. _

_The sand grains were so soft, it didn't even seem real. As each of the barefoot girls stepped on the sand, their feet sank in delightfully, infusing the moist feeling of the ticklish grains and the cool water washing up and down. After splashing around in the water a little bit, they ran up to a hill and sat down, enjoying the view of the swaying ocean, seagulls flying over it, and swooping, and the world seemed so small. _

_Hermione kept on telling the girl stories – stories of her past, even though she didn't know whether or not it was safe, stories of how they got there, the founders, her biological parents, the trip to Hogwarts, her friends, Quidditch, some more about Hogwarts and her only recent days. The girl sat there, absorbing everything like a sponge, eyes wide and curious with interest, as she was yearning for more and more knowledge about the life Hermione had. _

_The sympathy the girl was giving overwhelmed Hermione. Even though the girl seemed only fourteen or fifteen and should've been in the awkward teenager's stage, she was actually much more mature than she looked. A young lady who was heading for her twenties, who was very intelligent for her age, could withhold a proper and interesting conversation with this teenager. When Hermione was a teenager, she barely talked to anyone and blushed at the existence of a cute guy or a compliment. _

_Hermione crossed her legs and completely forgot about the riddle the girl told her the other time. Their eyes once again met and it seemed like she understood what the brunette was thinking at that moment. Her face morphed into seriousness and she faced Hermione. _

_"Your journey has already started. And part you have completed. You, child of the light, have already come to the sanctuary. The sanctuary all dream to be. Even I – I can be everywhere, but nowhere at once. The faithful imagination you have along and sneaky fox shall aid you on the way. Although not careful the fox may be, nor she nor your imagination will parish or be lost."_

_Once again, these riddles. Come on Hermione. You did this when you were a ickle-little first year. You could do it now. Hermione stared at the girl, who continued talking, and somehow was holding Hermione's hand. _

_"The light will face a dangerous quest – be careful on the way... for dark may harm and wound you much and you will be left to pay. Beware the fourth – the fourth is dangerous for both you and the others around. Whilst you are on this hearty quest, the fourth will be sneaking around." _

_Again, Hermione thought of everything the girl said, but couldn't understand anything. Anything at all. _

_"The birth of Christ shall be the day, prior to which you must go. Search in the obvious spot of the line – everything was once hidden there. A couple months of rest will do no harm, but soon you must go… go… when the hare hops to the silver moon, then you must go. Where the swans do strut in their hollow below." _

_The hare? Could that mean Luna? That could possibly mean Luna. Hermione continued listening to the girl, who continued talking intently. _

_"Dost you go to the third hiding, that is not needed of you. For the golden phoenix will fly to the den and set the dark to fire. Tricky to find his mother's possession – the one she kept all along. Don't overthink, or you will fail – follow the prince's book. For that will lead you to the place where lastly the one is hidden. To complete the quest, under changes much go – unforgiven to be forgiven. When all is gone and all is through, the light will darken." _

_And with that, the girl finished, smiling lightly. There was something beyond pleasure and happiness behind that smile. That curious smile. But there was something else – something that was more powerful than fear, or love, or any possible emotion combined. It was hope. _

_Feeling something tingling through her body, Hermione felt adrenaline rushing through her veins. "I will not fail you. Don't worry. I will not!" Hermione exclaimed at the girl, who smiled happily, exposing her pearly white teeth. Hermione neared her, and touched the side of the girl's hair, stroking it gently, about to say something. _

_But right at the moment, the image became bleary and the girl was gone. _

"She's gonna kill you, Padfoot." A careful voice urged.

"Don't worry. I got this under control." The voice of someone Hermione recognized as Sirius chuckled. "She likes it." he chuckled again, and Hermione scrunched her eyebrows. Because his voice was coming from her lap.

Snapping her eyes open, she looked down, discovering Sirius' head delightfully lying on her lap, grinning up at her. And the worst part was that she was stroking his hair and scratching his scalp as he whimpered pleasantly.

Surprised, Hermione gasped, accidentally pushing him off of her lap, as he plummeted to the floor, and Hemrione winced. "Sorry!" she whispered, as looked up to see Remus hiding behind his book, and James lounging in the chair, enjoying the act. "Wait, no. I'm not sorry. Sirius, what the bloody hell were you doing on my lap?" she demanded quite furiously, eyebrows furrowed with misunderstanding.

"Actually," he grinned, getting up and dusting off his expensive robes. "You were the one who dragged me into your lap. I know, love, I am truly irresistible." He smirked, plopping down next to her and slipping an arm around her neck, as she shifted uncomfortably. She looked at Remus, whose eyes were looking at her over the top of the book.

"Is that true, Remus?" she asked him firmly, as he mumbled something and sank back into the chair, 'reading' his book. "Remus?" she asked him again, this time their eyes meeting and he coughed slightly.

"Umm… Well, you see… Sirius isn't er—really lying. You did, kind of, pull him into your—er—lap. But that's completely aside from the point." He jumped up feigning a stretch. "Good night, I'm off to bed."

Hermione just gapped as he ran up the stairs and then turned her head to Sirius, who was grinning wolfishly, completely content and pleased with himself.

"Sorry, love." Sirius finally said, giving her a tight-lipped smile. "I have that affect of girls." He stretched wrapping his arm more tightly around her shoulder, as James' beautiful speckled owl gave a loud hoot, ruffling its feathers.

At that same moment, a blur of red hair flew in and before she knew it, Lily was standing in front of her. Looking out the window, it was already dark. How much had she been asleep for? What happened, and what time was it even?

Lily stood there, staring at Hermione and Sirius, eyes wavering from her pressed up against him to his arm around her shoulders. She opened her mouth and pointed at the two of them, not completely understanding the situation. "Are you two, um… Together?" she asked finally, overcoming the awkwardness.

Hermione gasped, and exclaimed "NO!" while Sirius simply said "Yes."

Lily snorted and looked at the two of them. "Could've fooled me." She laughed, as she made her way to the stairs, and Hermione threw off Sirius' arm, throwing him a glare, which he returned with a charming smile.

"Evans?" James called, jumping from out of his seat.

Lily turned around slowly. Hermione could see that she was not in the mood for any of James' love talk at all. The redhead's eyes were shut and she rubbed her temples. "Yes, Potter?" she asked softly, not wanting to raise her voice.

"Wanna go to Hogsmeade with me?" he asked hopefully, eyes lighting up, as Sirius sighed from behind Hermione, and the brunette rolled her eyes.

"First, Potter," she spat his name, crossing her arms over her chest and tightly clutching the bag, which was hanging by her side. "How would you get to Hogsmeade? It's not even open yet, and we're not allowed."

"A Marauder's secret." He grinned at her, as she raised her eyebrow, and Hermione could understand where Lily was headed. A smile crossed the brunette's face, as she looked at the fire knowingly.

"Oh?" Lily asked simply, a completely innocent looking wavering over her face, as she leaned against the wall of the winding staircase. "A Marauder's secret? Does that mean that you can't share it with me? Not even a tiny bit?" she mock-begged, pushing out her lip, and Hermione could feel the aura rising in the air.

"I can tell you! Of course I can! Anything for my dear Lily-flower!" He exclaimed, and Hermione turned her head, watching the whole scene. The common room was completely empty except for the four of them, and Hermione felt happy it being like this.

"Is that right?" Lily asked, hopefully. Jogging down the stairs and walking toward James. "But before we go on a date, we have to share a few secrets. You know, so that we know something about us?"

James' face was so happy, Hermione even felt a little sorry for him. Lily was a good actress – if she had stayed in the Muggle world and hadn't been proclaimed a witch, she could've been great in Hollywood, and could've become an actress of all sorts. Harry didn't seem to inherit her acting skills, but most likely James' gullibility. That made Hermione remember all the moments Voldemort used all the people Harry loved...

"Of course! What should I tell? What do you want me to tell? I can tell you anything! Anything at all!" James exclaimed, nearing Lily. There was a small blush on her cheeks, but it quickly disappeared. "Is there anything in specific that you want to know?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, in fact there is." Lily giggled, as she stood on her toes and whispered something into James' ear, as his grin widened. When she finished, and asked him, "Can you tell me?" And he nodded eagerly, leaning down to her ear and whispering something.

Hermione could see Sirius shifting in his seat with anticipation, his ears visibly twitching, as he arched his back to see what was going on in the scene, and to get a couple words of what they were whispering about. When James leaned away from Lily, he was beaming with success and it looked like he could fly to the moon at that moment.

"James." Lily said, suddenly very seriously, and the room temperature seemed to fall. By a couple degrees. "I can't go on a date to Hogsmeade with you though." She stated. James' chin fell to the floor, as she put a finger over his mouth. "Don't be mad at me, but let me say this. I know how dedicated you are to your friends – the Marauders. And if you told me your _personal_ secret, how can I trust you with mine?" she asked solemnly, skipping up the stairs, leaving James to stand there.

Sirius was shocked. His eyes seemed to be popping out of their sockets and suddenly he started laughing. His laughter echoed through the room and he fell on the floor. James slumped over, and walked over to the other couch, slumping over dreadfully, and whining, face planting on the plush red divan. It seemed like it was hard getting back from the moon.

"Why." He murmured, hitting his head against the seat. "Why. Why. Why." He continued asking, as Sirius continued laughing on the floor, tears developing in his eyes. James' owl turned its head to look at James on couch, as it hooted almost sympathetically.

"That's—it's just!" Sirius managed through laughs, and James didn't even bother getting up. It probably hurt getting tricked by the love of your life like that, but he wouldn't give up. That Hermione knew for sure.

At that very moment, a muffled hoot came, but only this time from the window, and it was deffinetly not James' owl. Hermione cocked her head to the side. The owl hooted once again. It was a snowy owl, very similar to Hedwig. Hedwig. It was Nix! Hermione quickly remember that it was their own owl. She ran to the window, and the boys didn't even notice. James was too busy explaining himself in love on the couch, while Sirius was rolling on the floor.

She slowly opened the window and the owl hopped in, carrying a note. It hooted hopefully, as Hermione detached the note.

"Sorry, Nix." She mumbled, opening the note. "I don't have anything right now. Come tomorrow morning, I'll give you something from my plate." She suggested, starting to read the letter, as Nix hooted thankfully, and flew out of the window, as Hermione shut it once again, shivering from the cold wind, which blew in.

_"Meet us at the place where everything is hidden. We'll be hidden too._

_ ~Loony and Reddie."_

Hermione smiled. She would have to slip out of the Common Room and somehow sneak to the seventh floor, without getting caught by Filch, Mrs. Norris or Peeves. How was Mrs. Norris still alive in their day? Wasn't she supposed to be more than half a century old, or something like that. She read many books about cats, and not all of them tended to live for such a long time… Strange. Hermione sniffled, shoving the note into her pocket.

She quickly strutted out of the room, and surprisingly neither James and even not Sirius noticed her. For some reason, she didn't know why she felt so confident about going out all alone. Hoping that Filch and his cat weren't roaming around the school, she jumped out of the portrait hole, as the Fat Lady continued talking to Violet, her long time best friend.

The halls were dimly illuminated with torches, which sent delightful nostalgic shivers over Hermione's body. How many times had she, Harry and Ron snuck out of the Common Room to go on a freak-show adventure on an attempt to save Hogwarts and maybe even a magical community… Ah, good times.

Hermione didn't even understand why the hair on the back of her neck was standing up. If Filch was there, she would hear his cursing and heavy limp, but this seemed like someone completely drifting in the shadows. A ghost? Probably not.

Not feeling any fear or anxiety, Hermione decided to shrug it off, and hurry up, but the feeling kept taunting her, until she couldn't take it anymore. And almost ran into Peeves.

Stupid, stupid, _stupid _her! How could she not hear Peeves' myschievious cackling over the castle? And there he was! Rolling the doorway in what seemed like muggle duct tape, which he probably nicked from Filch and his pile of confiscated muggle toys. She would've run into him, only if she was pulled back. Someone grabbed onto her robes and clasped a hand over her mouth.

Then, she felt herself being pulled back into one of the corners, and just then, Peeves looked over his shoulder, just in case, and continued singing his song, something about the crazy Filch and messed up Norris. Hermione was thankful, but curious at the same time. But who wouldn't be, if you were pressed up against the wall and you didn't even know who was your savior… Or maybe even kidnapper.

She couldn't see the person's face, but could guess who it was. It was the person she felt trailing her the whole day. The person who thought he was so tough, but inside he just needed to be loved.

* * *

**Hahaha, cliffie! Not really, though. Who do you guys think it is?**

**Oh, how'd you like the "Bohemian Rhapsody" prank? I don't even remember how I thought of it, but it would've been a pretty hilarious thing to do. I don't think that the Marauders' pranks were always about harassing Slytherins, and were probably pretty funny more or less. **

**Lily's just evil in this chapter. :P If any of you were wondering, she asked him about how to get to Hogsmeade, even though it's not open. Well, she's a smart witch, what do you expect? Haha, but I still felt pretty bad for James. **

**Hope you guys liked it! Remember to review ;D**

**Love to all of you,**

**Daria  
(Girl . x . Marauder)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, and absolutely nothing. I think the nargles are behind it. **

**Thank you to my reviewers! You're the best! Thank you to SincerelyYourSecret, TS17isme, TsukiyoTenshi, gizzelleex3, angel897, arabellagrace, hummingpetal, casper22, BrightestWitchOfHerAge16, BBauzzie, Mrs. Theodore Nott, Polyjuice Princess, and the multiple guests. You're the ones who keep me going! xxx**

**Heey guys! Sorry for the long wait and everything, but this is my longest chapter, or so I believe and it was a pain writing it all. But still, I love this fic and I'm pretty sure I'll continue writing it for a long time.**

**At least it's Christmas, right? I hope you enjoy this chapter! Worked on it for a looong time. **

**Enjoy!**

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"**She left me roses by the stairs, surprises let me know she cares." ~Blink-182**

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**CHAPTER 11**

It was Regulus.

"Thank you." She mouthed to him, as he awkwardly shuffled as a nod. They were pressed up against each other in very close proximities, seeing that they were standing behind a statue and there was practically no leg space or body space. Any passerby would've thought that they were a couple… If they saw them – since they were in the shadows, it was impossible to tell that it was a person, moreover two people.

Hermione noticed that Regulus was actually as fit as Sirius was. **(She would know.. ahem)** He had the same build, and there were just a couple of features, which differentiated the two brothers. Even then, secretly, Hermione preferred to think of Regulus as a brother figure, and sometimes of Sirius as something more...

It seemed like they stood that way for a half an hour before Peeves cackled and flew again. Exhaling deeply, Regulus backed out from behind the corner and Hermione after him.

"What were you doing out so late at night?" He asked suddenly, and Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes at his obnoxiousness and lack of explanation. The most awkward way to start a conversation. The younger Black _needed_ to learn how to express himself. That was his problem, or so Hermione guessed.

"Oh, Monsieur Black, we haven't even gone out for a butterbeer, alas, must we go so fast?" She batted her eyes as fast as she could and retrieved with a wink at the stunned Black. "See you, Reggie. By the way," she added in, putting her hands on her hips. "This is my hallway. _You_," she pointed at him, "should be in the dungeons." She smirked and proudly walked the other way.

"Watch the tape." He coughed, as Hermione felt like dying. The tape. The tape that she ended up at such close proximities with Regulus, was still there in the doorway, as Peeves was most likely astonished by his magnificent plan, and couldn't wait to catch some type of fly in his sticky net.

"Right." She muttered, strutting past him, trying walk with the most royal and regal aura she could, not showing anything that had happened prior to that.

Finally, reaching the seventh floor she jogged to the doorway. Her hands were tingling with excitement, and she couldn't wait to finally be one with her friends. Of course, she didn't mind everyone else, but these were the girls who understood her story and knew where she actually came from. They would all remain close forever.

Walking down the hall felt like complete déjà vu. It felt like one of those evenings they were skipping over to practice in the D.A. Club with Harry and the others. Ah, why, oh why? Hogwarts didn't seem to change a slight bit, only tiny fragments here and there – a certain tapestry, the cleanliness of the holders and torches, dimly glimmering and casting taunting shadows on the dark walls.

Hermione could get over to the place with her eyes closed, and knew that she must've known Hogwarts better than any of the Marauders. That was the catch – because she couldn't. No one could know the home of the legendary Marauders than the Marauders themselves, but those girls had a perfect excuse.

Feeling slightly queasy in the stomach from the harsh remembrances of the blood quills, and overall Umbridge, Hermione trudged over to the place where she was supposed to meet Luna and Ginny. But they weren't there. Hermione concentrated on the wall, trying to figure out what it was, because something was definitely out of place, and she could feel it.

Sniffing slightly, she pulled out the note. _We'll be hidden too._ That was magnificent. Now she had to play hide-and-seek with two of her friends, and knowing Luna they were well hidden and were most likely using one of the founders' tricks on her. Hermione paced back and forth, peeking into corners, using spells all around her, just in case they cast the 'notice-me-not' spell, and grunted, slumping on the floor.

She felt like stretching out and yawned blissfully, shutting her eyes. Sleep didn't come well to her at times, especially after dreams, so it was a nice feeling to lie down and close your eyes for a moment. A muffled giggled was heard. Hermione's eyes snapped open and she saw Ginny and Luna above her.

No. Literally.

They were stuck to the ceiling, with their mouths covered with their hands and their hair hanging down like fancy blond and red chandeliers. Of course. Hermione snorted at the two of them and rolled her eyes, but continued lying on the floor, because it did seem quite comfortable.

"'Ello, Mione." Ginny smirked from the ceiling and waved at the brunette, who smiled back. "How are you faring down there on firm ground."

"Remarkably comfortable." Hermione suggested thoughtfully, grinning up at her friends. "What about you two bonny birds up there?" she asked in a low seductive voice. "Got your feel planted firmly to the floor?—er ceiling?" she laughed, as Luna raised her eyebrows in consideration.

"Not necessarily our feet. I do believe that it is more like our butts glued to the ceiling." Ginny muttered, scratching her shoulder. "I can't believe I actually gave into doing this. Oh what a terrible pain it shall be to get dethatched and fall face-first on the floor." She crossed her arms, and tried to swiped hair out of the way, which didn't end up working, because the gravitational tug pulled it back to its original position.

"Would you like my chivalrous aid, my dearest lady?" Hermione laughed, pulling out her wand, as Ginny started shaking her head, but it was hard to see from the ceiling. "By the way, whose idea was this again?"

"Mine." Luna said airily, with a simply smile on her face. She seemed to be enjoying her life with her whole heart at the moment, as she stuck out both arms and pretended to fly. "This is quite intriguing. I would like to grow wings some day through genetic mutation. That would be very peculiar." She continued with the same smile. "Now I understand why nargles hide in the ceiling – you can see everything!" she exclaimed, as Hermione muttered the counter-curse.

Ginny screamed and fussed over, thrashing in the air like a drowning woman and fell flat on the floor onto her face. Luna on the other hand was ready, and with a smooth swish of her wand, landed perfectly on her feet, grinning to Ginny.

"Ow..." she muttered, clumsily pulling herself across the floor. When she glared up, it looked like her perfect small nose was broken, or bruised, and she glared at Hermione. The redhead's face was a tomato red, as she screeched and threw herself towards Hermione's ankle, trying to grab for it, but didn't succeed, as the other girl quickly pulled out of reach.

"Would you like me to fix it for you? Your nose." Luna asked, cocking her head to the side, as Hermione stifled guffaws, and scrambled to her feet, before the redhead could yank her hair.

"No thank you, Luna." Ginny grit her teeth, chasing Hermione around, who was giddily jumping from side to side, dodging the angry girl, but they all knew that Luna would be more than happy to examine a nearby tapestry or something of the sort, but at that moment, surprisingly, she was concentrated on Ginny's nose.

"_Episkey._" She flicked her hand simply at Ginny, who was definitely not expecting the pain going through her nose. "I have practiced on noses now. Before I used to try only toes, but after Harry's situation, more Gryffindors thought it would be nice to break their noses, so I had plenty of practice. Of course, a couple of the times weren't successful..." she trailed off, as Hermione calmed herself down and stopped laughing.

"What was _that_ for, Luna?" Ginny groaned from the floor, hand on her nose, which was still bleeding, and Luna shrugged. "Oi! Mione, stop bloody laughing! It's not funny!"

"Bloody!" Hermione choked through laughs, and Ginny glared at her once again.

"You two! Stop it this instant!" Luna glared at them, and both of them jumped up in front of her like toy soldiers. "We need to get this done, and nothing will work with you two running around all the time. By the way, Filch will be coming down this hall at any moment, so we better get going." She flashed them a warning look with her blue eyes, and went up to the door, pacing three times.

Both Ginny and Hermione's lips twitched as they looked at each other, which seemed like a pretty hilarious scene – a tamed red faced brunette, hair all over the place, and a redhead with a bloody nose, the blood dripping all down her front. Hermione waved her want, so everything was out of her clothes and Ginny gave her a small smile.

A slight nostalgic rustling sounded out, which reminded the girls on the crisp crackle of dry leaves on a foggy autumn morning. It made each of the girls homesick. But they were at home. Walking into doors, Hermione inhaled a familiar smell of fresh green grass, flowers, the spray of the sea... Wait... There was something vaguely familiar about this place. It looked a bit like Bill and Fleur's cottage, and seemed like it too.

Luna led them out into the field and they sat down, ready for their discussion.

"So we'll be holding probably meetings once a month, or even more so, when we need to talk to each other urgently in privacy without anyone out of the Marauders, staff or students finding out. Got it?" Luna asked quietly, as the other girls nodded. Ginny was plucking the pale petals of a daisy and Hermione was making a crown out of forest flowers.

"What is this place?" Hermione asked suddenly, trying to wedge out of her mind, where she saw the place before.

"I came here with my dad when I was little. It's was on the far east coast, but I don't quite remember what it's called... Blossom Valley, I think." she muttered, as Hermione waved the question off.

It was probably from the time after the end of the war, when she, Harry and Ron travelled all over England, spreading the news of the Light to many witches and wizards, still living in terror and under the impression that the Dark was still winning. They had visited many places, were only back in a month, a couple weeks before Hermione, Ginny and Luna got sent back in time.

"Every time we get to choose a different place, right?" Ginny asked, plopping down in the grass, stretching out in the sun, as Luna nodded. "By the way, Hermione, I forgot to ask you, what happened during your sorting? You seemed pretty nauseous and out of your normal being. Did the hat say something?"

"The hat was very pleasant to me." Luna indicated, nodding cheerfully, as Hermione snorted.

"No, my parents interrupted. While I was getting sorted, the hat was continuing its lecture about how I can fit into all the houses, blah, blah, blah, and then mum and dad cut in and started pestering it about what house I'm getting into." Hermione shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing too important, or else I would've told you two."

"You looked like you ate too much treacle tart and were trying not to be disgusted, and to be happy at the same time, and overall you were trying to conceal your emotions. It was very confusing, even to me. Good ol' Dumbly even seemed a little woozy and uncertain. I think he was planning to ask Firenze about the star cycles, because maybe you are meteo-dependant."

Hermione snorted at this, and so did the other girls. "Anything else knew that we don't know about? Ginny, Luna?"

There was a small silence and then Ginny spoke up all of the sudden. "I actually do have a question." Thoughtful was not usually the tone Ginny spoke in – she was spontaneous and loud, but at this moment, Hermione knew she was trying to remember something. "I have memories now, and they're completely random. They're like me falling off a tree into a puddle of jelly, actually made by you two, skating on a lake and falling through the ice, also caused by the two of you and something to do with you cracking my small broomstick in half." She muttered as Hermione raised her eyebrows knowingly.

"The founders sent us memories of our 'past selves' in this life." Hermione simplified for Ginny, who still looked confused.

"But why?"

"So that if someone asks us we can come up with a sneaky or snarky answer, whichever you prefer, with references to your 'old' memories." Luna smiled. "So that you don't have to glare at the person for them to leave you alone again." She added, with a hint of mischief in her eye.

Ginny seemed both startled and impressed at the same time, but in the end stuck out her lip and nodded in appreciation. The time passed on as the girls smiled and relaxed, remembering all the fun times they had before, and they created the new times.

"So what do you guys think about the Slytherins?" Hermione asked all of the sudden, remembering Luna's master plan of dragging Severus over to the good side. "Any good or bad ones?"

"Well, putting aside that they probably wanted to sexually harass me earlier this week," Ginny started thoughtfully, as Ginny and Hermione rolled their eyes, "I still think that they're a bunch of slimy gits and can't be thrown over to the Light. Not most of them at least. End of story. That's all." She threw another flower away, and Hermione could almost see disappointment in Luna's eyes.

Suddenly, Luna's face darkened and big sad shadow was cast over it. "When I started sitting with Severus in the beginning, he warmed up to me a slight bit. You know how he is – cold and shy..."

"Arrogant and cruel, heartless, yeah we know all of that already." Ginny waved her off with such a sour expression on her face, she made Hermione snort out and topple backwards on the soft green grass, but since Luna was in charge of the room, the room changed with her.

At first it was all sunny and bright, but then suddenly heavy grey clouds pulled over, weighing the earth down by a thousand tons. Luna's eyes were a matching shade of grey. The air temperature dropped by what seemed immediately ten degrees, and a heavy wind started to blow. Hermione coughed and pulled herself up, giving Ginny an uneasy look as Luna stared at them.

"Er—sorry." Ginny muttered, as Luna pursed her lips and continued in a stony tone, but something about her seemed to soften up and the air got warmer and mood lightened up.

"When I was first with Severus, he was talking to me like a normal person. Cold and scary, arrogant, selfish. And he once noticed my radish earrings, just as anyone would notice, but he asked why they were black, so I came up with an answer." She shrugged, but her eyes widened as the story started to approach its climax. "But then, the next day, I could swear the radishes were redder when I was around him. Until the incident happened." She sniffled, falling back on her elbows and eyeing the two girls.

Hermione looked around as a unnecessary precaution, as it was already more of an automatic reaction for her, whenever she was angry or scared, or even both. Her eyes widened in realization and couldn't help but be mad at Sirius and James for being such arrogant gits and ruining their chances and hopes of actually pulling Snape over to the light.

"Now he barely talks to me, avoids me at all costs and the radishes are once again coal coloured and black. I was that close." She sniffled angrily, as a heavy silence fell upon the girls. The air was thick, clearly from all the tension in the group and there was an uneasy surrounding feeling in the air, making it difficult to breathe. The girls took gulps of air at a time and continued sitting around and staring.

The thick, moist air drew out sweat drops on the girls' faces as they unhurriedly slid down their faces and formed on their arms. Had the Room of Requirement always been like this? Working off of the mood of the leader of the group? That was the strange part of it.

"Lily and James aren't getting along too well." Ginny put in awkwardly, trying to diffuse the tension, which actually worked a slight bit, as the focus came off the Slytherins back to the star-crossed Gryffindors.

"Are they supposed to be arguing like this all the time?" Hermione asked curiously, as Luna shrugged and shuddered.

"I wonder how many arguments they will get into when they get married." She laughed timidly, as Ginny raised one eyebrow.

"If they get married, that alone."

"What are you talking about Gin?" Hermione incredulously raised an eyebrow, as Ginny shifted slightly uncomfortable.

"Well, you said that everything's changing now that we're in a different time. So in this version of time, they might not get married at all." There was an icebreaking silence. "What if they won't have Harry? I mean, sure, we might save a lot of people and such, but have you even seen her warming up to him?" she asked them, as the girls continued staring at each other.

"So you're saying that they might not get together..." Hermione said slowly, letting all the words sinking until realization finally struck.

"Did Sirius and Remus ever talk about how James and Lily got together?" Luna asked firmly, looking at the other girls.

"They only usually talked to Harry and Hermione." Ginny put in, as the attention was directed to Hermione.

"I didn't usually—I, um..." Hermione thought hard and looked to the sky, which was mulling in to a somber blue, but that was not helping either. "I didn't really talk to Sirius too much about Lily and James. To Remus, we only talked about school – Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and everything else of that topic." She muttered slightly, a bit embarrassed and ashamed that she didn't even bother asking any of the Marauders about Harry's parents.

"So that's what we have to do then." Ginny stated firmly and confidently. "We need to get James and Lily together, but in a way in which James, Sirius and Remus don't realize what we're doing."

"You're quite right." Hermione stroked her chin, as Luna snorted.

"Imagine, coming up to Remus and Sirius, and asking them how to get Lily and James together. 'Why do you ask?' 'Oh, I dunno, we're from the future, our best friend is their child and we just want him to get born. By the way Remus, did I mention that bowties compliment your dreamy amber eyes?'" She giggled, as the other girls joined in howling and having a great time.

They threw sand at each other, chased each other around, played in the grass and did everything typical five-year-olds would do. But that was the age they wanted to be in at that moment. Right when Hermione was about to splash Luna, she was struck with a major headache.

Sitting down on the sand, she rubbed her temples, trying to understand what happened. Her vision went slightly blurry and shapes looked fussy. There were four Luna's running towards her in slow motion.

"What is wrong with her?" She heard a washed out voice of Ginny calling to Luna as they ran and started shaking Hermione by the shoulders.

Her mother or father was getting angry. She knew. Probably mum.

"_Intersaepio Salus._" She muttered, using the last bit of her energy.

"**Hermione! What did you think you were doing?" **Immedately, Hemrione's vision got better and she didn't feel woozy anymore, and Hermione raised her arms to stop Ginny and Luna.

"Sorry, mum, I didn't realize it put the spell on..." she muttered slightly, as the voice of her mother was killing her brain.

"**What happened to you? You could've gotten killed! What were you **_**thinking**_**?" **Hermione winced at the powerful voice in her head.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it won't really happen again."

"**I am very disappointed in you."** A sniffle was heard. **"Don't do that again. Also, we forgot one small detail for you at school. You'll really have to change it, or else your plan is going down."**

"What is it, mum?" Hermione asked, slightly tugged over by the curiosity and urge in her mother's voice.

"**The Marauder's Map. It tells only the truth, and cannot be confounded by your changed names, which is very ironic. But it's only logic because it can only tell the truth. You need to sneak into those boys' rooms and change your names on the map."** Hermione groaned at this.

"You're kidding me?" She asked.

"**I wish. Unfortunately, I am not, and you have to do it as soon as you can. Possibly this weekend?" **

"Sure."

"**Alright, don't forget to study, you have an Arithmancy quiz tomorrow."**

"Wow mum," Hermione grinned and made a 'tsk'-ing noise. "Spoiling and warning me? That is considered cheating, you know." She smirked, and heard an irritated groan from her mother.

"**Just study. By the way, who told you of the spell?" **

"Who else could've told me?"

"**I am going to kill him."**

"Don't mum, I still want a father who knows and remembers me."

And with that, her mother left her mind.

"What happened?" Luna exclaimed, leaning next to Hermione who laughed slightly at their friends' worry.

"For a moment you just fell on the floor, clutching your head and we thought you were going to faint or something. And you _do_ know, if you died in the Room of Requirement, we would die with you and no one would ever find out about it?" She raised an eyebrow, making Hermione chuckle.

"What a nice bedtime story for the kids." Luna sighed, looking up to the sky, eyes morphing dreamily.

Ginny and Hermione stared at each other, and a mischievous twinkle in their eyes made them react the same way at the same time.

"Luna!" they both gasped incredulously, clutching their chests, and touching Luna's robe-covered stomach. "Are you not telling us something." Luna laughed and rolled her eyes at her two friends, linking arms with them.

They started walking towards the door to return to the Common Room and to go to bed, hopefully without anyone noticing that they were wet and gone for quite a while. "So," Luna continued. "What happened to you?"

"I have something important to tell you. It's about something that we will have to do very soon. And it's regarding the Marauders." Hermione sighed somberly.

"How soon are you talking about?" Ginny asked, looking into Hermione's eyes.

"I'd say tomorrow evening?"

And with that, Hermione told her two friends everything that her dearest mother had told her, and the three of them decided to go the next night.

~OoOoO~

The very next day, as her mother had unfairly spoiled, Hermione did in fact have an Arithmacy quiz, just to test everyone's overall knowledge; therefore, deciding the speed of the lessons, amount of homework and everything else that depended off of it.

Everyone was very excited for that day, even thought it was the second day of school, but everyone wanted to see the mysterious new teacher – Professor Daslor. He was a stunning, charming man, who seemed like a Sirius Black of his own age. Girls threw themselves at him, but he, as any respectable man would do, avoided any affections with the strange teenage girls. Boys envied him, and teachers studied him curiously.

Hermione noticed Luna's grim face, as she stopped sitting with Severus at breakfast, and probably decided to give it a try another time. But at that moment, all the whispers were going off about the Defense class. The students, who took N.E.W.T. level classes had a double D.A.D.A. with the Slytherins. Since there were so many students willing to participate in the war, and needed Defense, there were two classes made for it.

Hermione, who as the girls decided would stick closely to Lily for the time being, sat beside her, discussing school subjects, family, friends and anything else true friends could ever discuss. Ginny and Luna sat down behind them.

The four of them sat, watching the front of the classroom, not even understanding why. They waited for the class to start, for they were fifteen minutes early. With only five minutes left, most of the crowd started falling in – Snape, Avery, Nott, Mulicibar and so many others, who Hermione knew had become Death Eaters in the future.

Finally with only two minutes left, the four Marauders strutted in the class. Hermione turned away, looking outside the window, out which she had a perfect view, but the stained translucent glass didn't let her see much. She held her breath, because she felt someone watching her and sit down a couple meters away from her: beside her.

She inhaled deeply and slowly turned to lock her eyes with silvery-grey ones, staring at her. She tried to move, but she was lost inside them, and she felt safe. Hermione felt a quill poking her arm, and thankfully broke off their gaze.

Just then, the doors to the office, where the teachers usually had their office, which Hermione remembered as the torture zone used by Dolores Umbridge, opened and their new Defense teacher walked in: Professor Daslor, who seemed to charm girls with his looks wherever he went, that obviously excluded Hermione, Luna, Lily, Alice and sometimes Ginny.

"Good morning, class. My name is Professor Daslor and I am your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I do apologize for my absence the past two weeks. I had some urgent business I had to get to." His smile disappeared, turning into a frown, but his face quickly morphed again. "Now, I'm already thinking about this myself, and please, understand that I am also truly awaiting how I'm going to get extracted from Hogwarts, killed, maimed or some other way." He smiled lightly, exposing his sparkling white teeth, which made the Slytherin girls giggle, and the Gryffindor girls roll their eyes.

Hermione turned to the Marauders who were laughing and smirking, whispering something, and handing over money, which meant they were probably making bets of how the Defense teacher is going to leave the school.

"This year, in your N.E.W.T. classes, you will be learning various spells, charms and curses, which you will need to use in the future. I understand many of you are taking this class for your future careers, which may as well include an Auror or something on the basis. You will be dueling each other, competing for house points according to the length of your duel, level of spells, accuracy, and other components. You may put your books away."

At this, exciting chatter broke out – no one liked doing anything by the books, except for a few special snowflakes, so everyone enthusiastically stuffed their books away. Daslor walked up to the front of the class, and stood gazing everyone over. There was something strange about him, but Hermione couldn't completely point it out. There was definitely something there – she would have to pull a couple of tabs to find out exactly what. But nothing was ever okay with their Defense teachers.

"Today will be a practice duel – you will split up and duel each other until you have disarmed and have whole control of their wands." There was a happy tension in the room, which exerted excitement and anticipation. "You may split up."

Of course, every Gryffindor paired up with a Slytherin: Nott, Avery, Snape, Bulstrode, Parkinston and Flint. Hermione chided herself, but still believed that Peter was worthy of Slytherin, but trusted herself to change him over the year. Nevertheless, they all split up and pushed themselves into dueling position.

Everyone dispersed, but Hermione saw who everyone paired up with. A beefy looking Slytherin girl with gruesome crooked yellow teeth approached her, and Hermione recognized her in an instant: this was the mother of the girl whose cat's hair she used for the polyjuice potion in second year.

"Come along, White." Violetta Bulstrode sneered to Hermione, who shot her an amused look. "Not scared are yeh?" she snarled in a Scottish accent.

"Of what, your teeth?" Hermione asked in a sickly-sweet voice, as Violetta's eyes narrowed and she muttered a cuss under her breath.

On the other side of the room, Hermione saw Ginny partner up with Avery, probably very bloodthirstily waiting for some revenge. It wasn't typically like Ginny to be calm, or sometimes swoony. Well, she was in some cases, but mostly, she was strong, independent and occasionally slightly fierce when someone ticked her off. It's no wonder people said things such as 'her hair's as red as her temper'.

Lily paired up with a hissing pug-like mother version of Pansy Parkinson, who was snarling at the redhead and throwing dirty looks every two seconds over her shoulder, but Lily had the will power to not react and save everything for the duel.

Knowing Sirius and his sneaky and sly ways around, Hermione couldn't help but snort at the fact that he had paired up with a quivering Peter, who seemed to be much scared than he probably ever was. Hermione had seen that Sirius was a great dueler, but more than that she had heard that he had taken it as a hobby in earlier years and was quite fantastic for his age.

On the other side of the room, Remus paired up with Nott and James paired up with the Slytherin captain, Flint, who it seemed like was also in seventh year.

Luna was avoiding Snape – Hermione could see that. The crazy blond decided to leave the Slytherin alone until he could face her personally, but the time was ripe at that moment, unfortunately for her.

"Now then, since we are going to start our duels, I would like to ask if anyone wants to go first." Their green eyed professor asked, a happy twinkle in his eye dancing, meeting eyes with a person from each pair as no one volunteered. "Nobody?" He snorted, crossing his arms in an amused fashion, as if he was hiding something from them.

"We'll go first, Professor." Luna said suddenly, as all eyes turned to her, but she was unnerved. She stood there twirling her wand in her fingers, obviously ignoring all the attention and didn't even look at the professor when she addressed him. Snape sneered at her confidence, completely sure that he was going to crush her.

A cold air was felt from Snape, even in his teen years. Hermione wondered, staring at him intently. It was probably after he got bullied by Sirius and James he got such a big attitude with a stash of arrogance and pride.

Professor Daslor gave out a light chuckle. "Now, whoever wins this duel gets a freebee and automatically progresses into the semi-finals." He grinned, as silence rippled through the classroom, and Sirius' hand flew into the air.

"You know, Professor? I can volunteer to go for Luna and Snivelly here..." He suggested slyly, as Daslor snorted once again.

"You missed your chance, Mr. Black. I asked a couple of times and no one volunteered." He grinned mischievously, as Luna and Snape got into dueling position. "Now just one more reminder. No dark curses allowed, to finish the duel, you must disarm your opponent."

Luna stood on one side of the room with full-on concentration, and stared at Snape, as they bowed to each other.

"Come on, Luna!" Hermione cheered along with everyone else.

"You can do it!"

"Kick Snivelly's greasy arse!" James and Sirius whooped out the unnecessary comment, but no one reacted, although Snape's wand hand twitched in their direction.

"_Stupefy!_" the blond tested her opponent, as Snape easily dodged it, and they paced in a circle, wands at the ready. Everyone watched with interest for their first opponents to duel.

"_Rictusempra._" Snape said quietly, but dangerously under his breath, but Luna was just playing with him. She easily swiped the spell away with a graceful swish of her wand. Unexpectantly, right after that, he exclaimed, "_Levicorpus!_" but Luna dodged that too.

Three more _stupefy_'s were sent in Luna's direction, but she swished her wand again, and they all deflected. This was too easy for her – after being a professional fighter, she was too used to fighting with full grown death eaters and was just taking her time with Snape.

Right when Snape opened his mouth, no doubt to say one of his Dark Curses, Luna twitched up and her dazedness was gone. Her eyes were burning with excitement and adrenaline. "_Flipendo!" _she cried, as Snape yelled "_Stupefy!_" at the same was hit by the bluish-white light and flew backwards into the air and into a bookshelf, and Luna stumbled slightly back, caught off guard. Cheers erupted from the crowd, as well as some unenthusiastic boos from the Slytherins.

Luna smiled giddily, and turned around, but she knew that it was coming. She heard a mumble with her extremely awesome war-like instincts and knew what spell was coming for her. Right at the last moment, she rolled away on the floor, and Snape shrieked. "_Sectumsempra!" _but once again, Luna was on guard and rolled to the side.

Hermione rolled her eyes at Luna's antics, and it seemed like Professor Daslor was interested in what the girl was planning to do next. Luna seemed to get more bored, so she decided to finish up with the potion's master.

"_Stupefy!_" she yelled, as Snape stumbled out of the way, but didn't succeed and was sent back. Cursing, he started to get up, but noticed that he couldn't... Because vines, growing from the ground were entangling him. Luna grinned at this sight and twirled her wand in her wand, as Snape attempted to escape, but with no luck.

"_Expelliarmus!_" he moaned, but his wand was moved at the last moment, as his spell was aimed for a fellow Slytherin. Luna looked curiously at Professor Daslor, who simply nodded to her. Her eyes grew cold and icy with revenge, and oh, what was she planning for the slimy Slytherin?

"_Glacius!_" She yelled immediately, as Snape's eyes widened with fear, and he turned into a pretty solid ice cube. Without even waiting for time to pass, Luna cried out "_Reducto!_" and blasted the ice cube into pieces, leaving a shivering Snape sitting there, and she finished with a simple airy "_Expelliarmus._"

Luna snatched Severus' wand out of the air and held it up triumphantly, as everyone cheered, and even the Slytherins couldn't help but clap a small bit. They definitely didn't want to mess with that girl.

"Good job, Ms. Thorn." Professor Daslor smiled at her, with an impressed look on his face. "I did indeed like your ah, how do we call this, touché finale." Luna beamed at him and headed back to an empty chair, and sat beside Hermione, who gave her an impressed look.

"You showed that Slytherin who's the boss here." Hermione grinned and high-fived her friend, as Ginny rolled her eyes at 'muggle antics'.

"Good job, Luna! You gave him hell! That's bloody brilliant!" James whispered eagerly, only earning a proud nod from Luna and a shove from an angry Lily, as he started to coo all over her, and everyone around them simply rolled their eyes.

"Next!" Daslor exclaimed, looking on the list he made. "We have... Ah... Why not? Ginny and Maximus." The two of them strutted up to the center of the room, but the duel was quick. Avery cast only one spell before Ginny cast her famous Bat Bogey hex on him and disarmed him right away. So, it was not too much of a show as Luna's was – nothing interesting.

After were Lily and Parkinson Sr., who had a timid duel, not too long and not too short, but not too interesting either, and Lily ended up winning that one after turning the Slytherin's shoes into two fat mice. After the continuous shrieking and yelping, as the mice nibbled at her feet, Lily disarmed her and transfigured the mice back into shoes. Several chuckles were heard from the classroom and Daslor even asked for the incantation for, as he stated, future purposes.

"Naughty, naughty..." Sirius tsk-ed sneakily, eyeing their professor, and the grey eyed boy transfigured a stack of books into mice. Lily groaned and banged her head against the wall, for the boys were most certainly not planning to forget that spell.

Turns went by with Remus facing Nott, which was more or less a quick fight with Remus winning in the end, Sirius and Peter followed, as Sirius lazily disarmed Peter after a few jinxes flying here and then. But then, a huge Quidditch babble followed as the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain faced the Slytherin Quidditch Captain.

"Come on, slimy, slippery, Slytherin, flippy, floppy Flint. What's got your knickers in a knot? Not you, Nott!" James roared over the crowd, and by this point everyone was standing, waiting for the faceoff, but Hermione had to admit that the Slytherins were either feigning or were actually really bad at dueling, because from that moment on, every Slytherin had lost their duels against the Gryffindors.

"Don't diss me, Potter. You can barely keep your own head on your broom from your arrogance." Flint sneered, showing off his yellowy teeth, which made Hermione squint from disturbance.

"I second that!" Someone in the crowd yelled, most likely a Slytherin, something on the basis of Avery or Nott.

"I resent that!" James cried dramatically, doing an extravagant bow, and shooting a jinx at the Slytherin, who doggedly swiped his wand, and barely held it in place. "I am much better than you, Flint, and you know it. You just hate to admit it to yourself, but deep inside, we all know what lies." He winked mischievously, as the Slytherin roared in agony, extravagantly waving his wand and yelling "_Stupefy!"_, but the sneaky Gryffindor easily dodged it, being Chaser and all.

"WHAT! You're a liar! You're just saying that because you can't get that mudblood Evans girl!" roared the Slytherin and the room grew even louder, as Daslor started shouting and breaking everyone up, but before he could do anything James was already in action.

Lily was standing aside, face pale, and hurt, but she was already used to the pain, so she stuck her nose up and ignored everything the Slytherin said. Hermione felt like James was going to blast and use an unforgivable on Flint, but surprisingly his actions surprised her.

"Oh, yeah, Flint?" He raised an eyebrow cockily, though the anger was clearly visible in his deep fathomless eyes. Flint had obviously forgotten about the duel, because he was intently staring at the Gryffindor with cold, lifeless eyes, threatening him about anything that was about to come on of his mouth. "And… you're saying that because dear Ursula is at your mother's home and you already have a baby lying, for, say, two years now? How is little Marcus doing there?" James' smile quirked and as fast as he had just said those words, not fast enough for the captain to process it, he already flicked his wand and the Slytherin went flying, and his wand in the other direction.

Cheers burst out from the Gryffindors, as Sirius jumped on James, who tackled Remus to the floor, eventually bringing down Peter as well. Hermione had a smile on her face, though she was trying to cover it up, but there was no use. Even though Lily had disappeared and turned away, Hermione knew her feelings at that moment.

James was hurriedly telling his fellow Marauders something, who were nodding determinedly, whispering what seemed like suggestions?

Everyone in the room was talking – they were either discussing the duels which passed, and duels to come. Some were placing bets on who was going to win the whole thing even. Professor Daslor interrupted all the chatter, while coming up to the room and suddenly his voice was microphoned through the whole classroom.

Loud, screechy feedback was heard overhead and everyone winced, clutching their hands over their ears and heads, trying to stop the noise from penetrating their ears.

"Alright now, we are through the first set." Daslor's voice announced proudly over the _sonarus_ spell. "If I have recorded correctly, in the quarter finals we have Ginevra Evergreen, Lily Evans, Hermione White, James Potter, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, leaving Luna Thorn with a free pass to the semi finals."

Chatter burst out, as the professor scratched something on his paper, which looked like he was connecting lines or playing tic-tac-toe or something. Maybe drawing a picture.

"And now he pairings are…" he said, glancing constantly at his paper, as anxiety filled his voice, as if he was doing something on purpose and he knew it. "Hermione White and Sirius Black." Hermione's jaw dropped, but couldn't hold back a smile once more, which caused her frown to disappear without trance. "Ginevra Evergreen with Remus Lupin." Another wave of cheers and chatter sounded out, as a couple of groans were heard, as everyone rhetorically knew the last pairing. "And Lily Evans and James Potter." He stated with a smirk on his face, as Lily appeared out of nowhere, jaw dropped and started blushing like mad.

Just before the crowd could start gossiping again, the young professor interrupted once more. His eyes gazed into each person's it looked like he was scanning them through. "One more thing." He added quietly and deadly, though it was all clear over spell. "I will never hear that word in my class again, Flint. You understand?" he nodded to the Slytherin who wrinkled his nose and sneered. "As a result of that, forty points will be taken from Slytherin and you will serve detention for a week."

Gasps were emitted from across the room, cheers from Gryffindors and silent glares from the Slytherins. They were probably all considering their professor a muggle-loving 'blood-traitor', but Daslor knew what was awaiting him and would always stay on edge.

"Now, who shall we begin with?" he asked again, mischievously. "Ah, why not. Ms. White, Mr. Black, you're up." He gave them a wicked grin and backed up and everyone cheered and shuffled out of the way, clearing space for the two teenagers.

"Good luck, Hermione." Lily smiled warmly at Hermione, who returned a tightlipped one. Oh Merlin. She was going to face Sirius. Calm. Calm. It's fine. Okay. Good. Come on, where's your confidence? You've been fighting Death Eaters since fifth year. You can take on a flirty seventh year.

"Break a leg, Mione." Ginny winked at her, making Hermione guffaw and roll her eyes, while flicking the redhead's head.

"Not literally, I hope." She smirked, as a couple of scoffs were heard.

"Come on, Hermione. You can do it. I think I've seen it according to some of the blackwidow berries in the forest. They showed the probabilities, but the nargles might be on his side. Good luck." Luna said, giving a loony smile, which made Hermione smirk on the inside.

On the other side of the room, Sirius was smirking his face off, as James was socially preparing him. "Come on, mate. You can take on this bird." James winked at his as the Gryffindor beater snorted playfully, his confidence up so high, not even James on a broom could take it down.

"Don't worry Prongs. I got this. Wish my devilishly handsome looks and romantic affections, I'll easily be able to take her down. All it takes is a flip of my gorgeous—"

"Yeah, yeah, Padfoot. Keep on going, and don't get your head up so high." Remus warned him, but his proud friend took no notice of the guy who actually saw Hermione practicing dueling on her free time and couldn't wait for his friend's arse to get whipped.

Hermione couldn't help but laugh when she even heard a couple of Slytherins calling out supporting words, since they were on much better terms with the rich pureblooded Gryffindor girl than the traitor Black. She strode to one side of the room, waiting for further instructions from her professor.

Sirius lazily strode to his side of the room and leaned against a bookshelf, as if particularly nothing in the world had ever bothered him and was not going to. Hermione quirked her eyebrow, hoping that this duel would be a productive one, and Sirius wouldn't laze around, show of or throw compliments around. Thankfully there weren't any insensible Ravenclaws in their D.A.D.A. class, because the room would've been most probably ten times louder than it already was.

The two duelists looked at their professor for some sort of a signal, and he simply nodded to them. They approached each other and bowed, for they were in a proper duel.

"Ready, Black?" Hermione grinned cheekily at him, as he returned the cheekiness.

"With my whole wretched unholy heart, White." He smirked back, throwing her a wink, and she immediately attempted to disarm him, but much to her surprise he deflected it with a swift swipe of his wand.

Hermione raised an eyebrow as they paced in a circle, ignoring everyone who was around them, shouting compliments, insults and whatever else they might've been shouting.

"Impressive, Black. You're exceeding my expectations." She nodded with mock-formality, as he pretended to gasp, placing his hand over his chest. Just all part of an act.

"You wound me, love." He said, waving his wand with incredible speed and shouting. "_Stupefy!_" but Hermione rolled out of the way, as he shot two more spells in her direction, which narrowly skimmed her arm. The girl grinned, as her soul brimmed with excitement, because she was looking forward to having an interesting duel.

The two of them continued with easy testy spells fooling around and playing with each other, but then Hermione decided to move it up a notch.

"_Rictusempra!" _Hermione shouted over the crowd, as the spell narrowly hit her opponent, but she wasn't done. "_Validissimo vento" _she cried, as Sirius did _not_ expect the flash coming from her wand, which threw his into the other side of the room with an extremely unmeasured strong gust of wind. Hermione winced, as Sirius nearly hit the window, but toppled into the bookshelf instead, falling on his face.

He groaned, but a devilish grin was still on his face. He lifted himself up, slightly dusting off his robes, which were all in dust and rubble, but his royal aura was there nevertheless. "_Guerre des livres!"_ he exclaimed suddenly, and Hermione did _not_ recognize that as a Latin or Italian spell, but French, and Sirius had just cast a spell in a different language.

Hermione's eyes widened as she saw the books, which were lying on the floor prior to the spell, fluttering from all around Sirius, and Hermione frowned. What a jerk. As soon as the books hovered in the air, Hermione raised her wand and looked at the books curiously. Not recognizing the spell, she didn't know what effects it had, until one of the books, which was a fat book on Transfiguration and its relation to Potions, lunged at her. Hermione yelped, completely unaware that it was supposed to happen, and slashed her wand yelling the first spell she thought of "_Reducto!" _and the book burst into pieces, pages flying all over the place, but the books kept coming and coming.

Groaning and cursing Black under her breath, Hermione unwillingly yelled "_Extimus Displodo_", wishing it would hit Sirius in the face, and in fact she heard a feminine shriek from the crowd, which sounded like Lily's, and Hermione could understand her pain. The spell split up and hit all the books, which were flying in the air. Multiple bloodcurdling shrieks were heard from the books, as they fell down and whole class was filled with smoke; nevertheless, Hermione still heard Sirius shouting out spells.

The brunette's eyes widened, as she hid underneath a desk to prevent being hit by a spell: who knew where that maniac was firing. Right when the smoke cleared out, Hermione took a look at herself – she was all in soot, bits and pieces of paper stuck in her hair, a couple scratches, and Sirius looked the same way. But he was gonna get it.

Hermione had enough fooling around and was now in mixed emotions – this was one of the exciting duels she had in her entire life, but at the same time, Sirius had just made her turn against her own nature and blast books out of the air.

Sirius seemed to get the message, because he was grinning broadly, but soon, that grin would turn into a horrified look. And so it did. Right after Hermione flicked her wand at Sirius and birds formed out of the pages of the books, flying straight at Sirius, as he gave out a Lavender-worth shriek and ran across the classroom, as Hermione leaned against a turned over desk and smiled to herself.

The birds were attacking Black with no stop, and laughs from the crowd were heard, as the people were too covered in soot, which gave everyone a Snape-worthy appearance.

Just as Hermione was about to disarm Sirius, he ran over to her, birds still chasing him and all, and threw his wand at her.

"YOU CAN HAVE IT! MAKE THEM STOP! MAKE THEM STOP!" he shrieked, swatting away a flock of birds with his hand, which must've still hurt, since they were made of paper. Then he found a book, lying disheveled on the floor and started chasing the birds around with it, as Hermione let out a wild laugh.

"Sorry, Black. Now, what about those devilishly handsome looks?" She threw him a partially serious look, but he ignored her, chasing the birds down, and the two even forgot there were people watching them.

"_Very_ good, Ms. White. That was exceptional dueling on both of your behalves. Congratulations, Ms. White, you will continue in the semi-finals. That was very impressive spell work. Maybe you could tell me about some spells you cast, and how you learnt them some day?" Professor Daslor asked her curiously, as she nodded fully surprised with a bit of confusion in the beginning, thought it was slightly amusing, since he too was covered in soot.

"Er—Of course, Professor." She smiled, turning and making her way to Luna, Ginny and Lily as she remembered Sirius. "Whoops!" she spun around on her heel. "If you ever want a rematch, Black, I'm always ready." She grinned at him and added with a gasp. "Oh, by the way, the international spell was impressive." Sirius caught the wand she threw at him and smirked.

"Don't forget, White, I'm full of surprises." He winked at her, swaggering over to James, who was shaking his head, with one of his hands rubbing his temple.

"That was bloody wicked Mione!" Ginny yelled, tackling her friend in a hug, as Hermione cringed from getting a face-full of soot, and coughed, clearing the air. "That was like SO awesome! He was like BAM, and then you dodged it underneath the table, like whooooosh, and it was totally awesome! Oh and the book part—"

Hermione groaned, as she recalled everything that happened. "Oh, don't even remind me, Gin. That was the cruelest thing Black could do." She sniffled, as Lily joined in.

"Yes, that was indeed very mean of him. But you had to defend yourself, so it's better than getting bitten by enchanted books." She tilted her head, and stroked her chin, bobbing her head in agreement.

"Enchanted books are indeed very dangerous. The enchanted ones have very sharp pages, you know. I've heard they're very cheap in the market, and are in fact very useful for potions and as guards." Luna said thoughtfully, staring up to the ceiling, as everyone else rolled their eyes in amusement. "I would much rather prefer a dog-book over some simple spell. Yes, I would." Luna decided airily, and to any outsider, she would've looked completely and thoroughly stoned.

"But who would've thought Black was such a genius though, right?" Hermione glanced up at the girls, her face full of surprise. "I mean, a spell in a different language? I've studied a couple at home, but he chose one that I didn't know of..." Hermione muttered thoughtfully, as Lily tapped her on the shoulder.

Hermione glanced over, as Lily gave her a know-it-all look, which Hermione very firmly recognized as her own. "He's a pureblood in a family interested in Dark Arts. Of course he's amazing in dueling, different spells, and most likely curses too, but he doesn't show them too often because of his Gryffindor pride." The redhead reminded her, as Hermione glanced in Sirius' direction, who was excitedly explaining something to James and Remus.

"Hmm..." Hermione hummed, sticking out her lower lip. "I guess you're right." She finally decided, turning her attention to the professor, who cast a spell over everyone, clearing away all the soot and dirt, but the ruins were still there.

He caught Hermione's eye and smiled. "For more excitement." Then redirected himself to the whole class. "I will not be clearing up these ruins, so kindly created by Mr. Black and Ms. White, but indeed will keep them, for a bit of... ah, action." He smiled dreamily and looked down at his list again. "Ms. Evergreen, Mr. Lupin, you're up." Daslor smiled, giving Hermione the shivers. There was something about him that wasn't quite on place...

Ginny whooped, jumping out of her seat and running up to the front of the room excitedly. Hermione only managed to clap her on the back before she was already in her peace. She looked over to Remus, who was also getting supported with devilish and amused grins, and he too headed out to the room. The two of them bowed to each other and the duel began.

This one was, of course, more careful and accurate than Hermione and Sirius' had been. Though their duel wasn't as crazy and cheeky, it was quite an interesting one to watch, especially with the many obstacles of ruins, books and a weird awkward puddle of black, which made Ginny shriek as she fell in it, but those shrieks turned into ginger laughs, as she concentrated and saw Remus slip on the same one two seconds later.

Sweat was already pouring down their faces, sticking and mixing with the soot which still remained in their hair and it seemed that the two of them found their equal in dueling. Ginny's smirk was visible from her seat, as Hermione edged over slightly to see more of the action. Non-verbally, Ginny cast a spell, which glowed dark purple and Hermione recognized it as the Bat-Bogey Hex, the same one she was most famous for.

"Well," Hermione scratched her head and her lip quirked in indecision. "Remus looks a little too tired to dodge that one." But knowing that it was the most intelligent Marauder, Hermione knew that he would defeat Ginny with her own arrogance. Just as the hex was about to hit Remus, as the last minute, he slashed his wand and yelled "_Protego Maxima!"_ forming a big blue shield, rebounding the curse back to Ginny, which hit her, as she flew into the wall.

Remus looked anxious and extremely sorry, but his two friend Marauders burst out in cheers and howls, as Peter started clapping rapidly, staring at his friend with adoring eyes. The poor werewolf turned all red and found particular interest in his feet, as Ginny suddenly rose, sporting wings and an enlarged snout.

This earned more laughs from the crowd, as Ginny flew to attack Avery or one of the Slytherins who started hissing, but that hissing turned into eventual shrieking and screaming.

"Very nice, Mr. Lupin." Professor Daslor managed through laughs, as he got up and headed towards Ginny, and with a quick wave of his wand, Ginny fell petrified onto the floor. "Very good spell work. Now, would someone please bring poor Ms. Evergreen to the Hospital Wing? I don't think we would want her to remain in that horrendous attacking spree."

"But Professor, the wings and snout to suit her so." Sirius grinned from his seat after clapping Remus on the back.

"Perhaps… Now… Ms. Parkinson, could you be so kind to get Ms. Evergreen to the hospital." He asked, turning to the pug, who was sitting in the corner and giggling with her Slytherin friends.

"Of course, Professor." She giggled on, turning slightly red as the other girls squealed. She levitated Ginny and headed out the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Next up… James Potter and Lily Evans." He said with a Marauder-worthy grin, which made everyone, except for Lily and James to howl in laughter. The two of them got up to the front, James shooting his friends nervous looks, who were dying on the floor, and Lily just stuck up her nose and went on with twirling her wand.

~OoOoO~

"I don't want to hear it Potter."

"Please, Evans!"

"I can't believe you!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—"

"Blast me? Leave me alone."

Lily's face was shimmering in rainbow sparkles, which blinded every person in the class, and underneath that she was probably as red as a tomato. James looked completely miserable and sad when Lily stomped out the door, cursing and yelling to herself, declaring all the things she was planning to do with that ignorant arse.

Daslor was talking to James and Hermione knew she was up against Remus.

The two of them dueled, and Hermione had to admit that he was a fair dueler, but in the end, after having countless years of practice and training to defeat Voldemort, Hermione had the skill to outdo the werewolf. Proceedingly, James, still extremely miserable beat Luna, practically hexing the wand out of her hand, but now it was up to the final match.

Nevertheless, Luna was still grinning, even though she got defeated and her arm nearly got burnt off, but she was happy, and Hermione didn't even have a clue why. Proudly, Hermione clapped her friend on the back and stood up, ready to stretch and head out to face James.

She could tell by the chatter that James was one of the top duelers in their class, and probably in their school, so from what the students had heard, James and Hermione were the two top students, since the Whites provided one of the best educations in the wizarding community. When Hermione turned, she saw people whispering and shaking hands.

The two of them bowed to each other and the duel began.

"_Levicorpus!"_ Hermione cried, simultaneously casting a sly look into Severus' direction, whose face was as pale as the full moon and his chapped lips formed a perfect "o". James easily dodged that and sent three stupefies in Hermione's direction, which she blocked with a _protego_. He sent another fast one, which Hermione didn't see coming.

"_Stupefy?" _she exclaimed and rolled out of the way, for the spell had taken her in shock. "_Stupefy!" _she shouted once again and James rolled out of the way for that one too.

"_Stupefy! Rictusempra!_" he yelled, as Hermione rolled out of the way for the first spell, but darn, that Potter's aim was unbelievable, and he hit her with the tickling hex.

Hermione couldn't control herself and started laughing, trying to put a solid expression on, and through giggles managed "_Orchidus"_ which was strangely the first thing she thought of. The next thing she knew, James was covered in flowers. "_Orbis!_" she shouted after that, still through giggles, as a massive hurricane-like wind swept James up and started twirling him in the air. While that was happening, Hermione was trying to take the tickling hex off of herself. By the time she did, James was already lying on the floor, and was getting up.

The duel continued another fifteen minutes and the two of them had sweat practically dripping off of them, their faces red and tired. They were both probably in a big need for water, and the duel was getting very tiring and long. The two of them started thinking along the same lines, because suddenly, James cast "_Aqua Erecto"_, blasting water in Hermione's face, which soaked her to the bones.

She stood facing him, with water dripping off, but he seemed more jealous of her than proud, because she was the one who got refreshed. The water was all over the room and it seemed like it was starting to flood up.

"_Glacius!_" Hermione cried, withholding a grin on her face, and hoped that James could skate or at least travel on ice, because this was going to be oh-so-fun. All the water which was spilt of the floor turned into pure and solid ice. Hermione decided that Daslor cast something just for the sake of it, because snowflakes started falling from the room and holly started growing on the ceiling.

James, unaware of what happened, took a massive step forward and slipped, flipping over and falling on his back. Hermione could hear an evident crack, and while getting up, slipped herself. Darn, she hadn't gone skating for a while.

The next what seemed ages the two of them kept on throwing off-balance jinxes and hexes at one another, but this duel didn't seem to finish. Finally wanting to end the nonsense, Hermione decided to do something not everyone would approve of. The next time the two of them slipped, she grabbed a wooden chair, which was still lying on the ice and slid up to James, whacking him on the head with it and grabbed his wand out of his hand. Then, she slipped and slid to the other side of the room.

"Congratulations, Hermione! Forty points for Gryffindor, and another twenty for you, James. Exceptional work!" Professor Daslor exclaimed, getting up and clapping, and when Hermione looked over, he was wearing a hat and red mittens. She couldn't help but scoff, because the students were all sitting and shivering. Sirius looked simply stunned and at the same time smitten with Hermione, as he stared at her with an open mouth.

"Not fair! Muggle antics!" James cried out, getting up and falling down again, as Sirius rubbing his hand against his face. Remus gave Hermione a 'thumbs up' and Hermione grinned to herself. She had probably proven herself worth to the Marauders now, and she would have their respect… Or they would adopt her.

Hermione just laughed and shook her head, but couldn't help but gasp, when she got up and looked into the window, realizing what she looked like. Her hair was all frizzy and partially wet, with a couple of solid icicles frozen. Her clothes were all black, with small parts of pink and yellow powder, which was still from Remus' duel. Her cheeks and arms had numerous scratches and burns, with a couple of tears in her robes.

When she turned she saw grey eyes on the other side of the room staring into her own, but had to sharply pull away.

**HAHAHAHA! This chapter is DONE! How did you guys like the duel? It took me ages to think of and to write. **

**As you might've noticed I made the Room of Requirement change into an actual location as well, and everything that happens there depends on the mood of the person who opens the room.**

**Just cleaning up the facts, if any of you noticed, 'Avery' is a very ambitious surname, which kind of sounds like 'every', so I named Avery 'Maximus' or the 'most important'. **

**And I didn't quite remember that Flint was much older than Harry was, since he was like in sixth year when Harry was in first? So I made them have like a love child or something. **

**Spell List:**

_**Validissimo vento – **_**strong wind (Latin)**

_**Guerre des livres – **_**war of the books (French)**

_**Extimus Displodo – **_**extreme explosion (Latin)**

_**Protego Maxima – **_**protection to the max. (Latin)**

**Just as a note, I got **_**Orchidus**_** and **_**Orbis**_** from gaming over the summer. I think it was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but you get the idea. x**

**Thanks for reading! Please review, I'd really like that! If you liked it or hated it... you know, any feedback? Thanks :D Have a Merry Christmas!x**

**Girl . x . Marauder  
(Daria... or Dasha)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: My initials are not JKR; therefore, I do not own the Harry Potter series, only some characters… **

**Hellooooo guys! Sorry for not updating, but exams are coming soon and there's lots of work to do! Anyhow, I think I'll be updating around every three or two weeks. :) Well, then… Happy New Year, by the way!**

**I went to Lake Placid for skiing and it was amazing! :D So much snow, goodness. During this whole time period I read two fanfics which completely emotionally destroyed me -_- but except for that my break was awesome!**

**Thanks again to my amazing readers! I love you all so much, thank you!x ****TsukiyoTenshi****, ****casper22****, ****hummingpetal****, ****phantombuggo****, ****HisSecretLover18****, ****Esin of Sardis****, ****mekom****. **

**hummingpetal****: It's James x Lily and Luna x Severus :)**

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"**If you'll be my star, I'll be your sky, you can hide underneath me and come out at night…" ~Boats and Birds, Gregory the Hawk**

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Chapter 12

When she got back to her seat, she was bombarded with questions, such as how she knew how to duel like that, who taught her, was she working for the Order and many other pointless questions she didn't even think people could come up with. After visiting the hospital wing and getting lectured loquaciously by Madame Pomfrey, the four of them (Hermione, Lily, Luna and Ginny) returned to the main hall for dinner.

She remembered looking at her calendar that morning and noting to herself that she was already in the past for around a month and particularly that day was especially special. On that same day she turned twenty years old. Wow, twenty. Actually, if she was counting by the years her current time-frame, she would've turned eighteen, but either way it was an important milestone she would never miss.

That same evening, she planned lie in her bed and remember all the other birthdays she had – the simple ones of sitting in her room alone and reading a book for all those years before she had any real friends... That evening when she cried herself to sleep at Hogwarts because Lavender started picking on her, the evening when she sat in the library doing research until she fell asleep, or the same evening she was sitting with Harry on his bed, talking about his parents. It was also the same evening she was daydreaming about Krum and the same one again of sitting with her friends and discussing the cruel and vile Umbridge. It was the same one they spent being followed by Death Eaters and hiding under her blanket, trying not to freeze to death.

It was her birthday. And thankfully not everyone knew that, and she knew that Luna and Ginny wouldn't give it away so easily. Only if Luna decided to throw confetti at the ceiling and yell that it was her, but the girl wouldn't go to such extremes. She already got curious and intrigued looks from her two friends the whole day, but Hermione assured them that they didn't need to get her anything, given the circumstances.

Hermione was actually quite enjoying her dinner, which consisted of leg of lamb, mashed potatoes, green peas and Yorkshire pudding. It highly reminded her of one of the meals they ate at the founders' palace and it impressed her to remember how long ago that all happened. At least whenever she ate Hogwarts food, she always had a deep nostalgic feeling buried deep inside of her.

Just as she finished her whole dinner and was ready to continue to desert, which she was waiting for in a very excited manner, the thing that caught everyone's attention was an expensive-looking dark grey owl, with a splatter of white dapples on its wings. It screeched and soared through the air, which wasn't normal, since there were no letters allowed during dinner.

Just as everyone quieted down, the owl swooped to the Gryffindor table and dropped the letter right in front of Hermione, afterwards leaving the castle that instant. Immediately, from reading many books about it, and from remembering from past experiences, Hermione knew what type of letter it was. She carefully took it in her hands which were slightly shaking, as everyone else watched her. Carefully handling it, she turned it over and inspected it, as it slowly started rising in temperature and she knew that if she didn't open it, it would explode. It was all black with a red expensive seal of a family crest and a red ribbon.

Taking a closer look at the crest, Hermione could figure out only two words, which were written on the bottom. "_Toujours Pur_" was what it read. She groaned internally, knowing exactly from who it was. She exchanged aggravated looks with Ginny and Luna, who were in the middle of putting food into their mouth, but their eyes were on their food. Sirius, Remus and James were also looking at Hermione with obvious curiosity, and Lily only plopped down next to Hermione.

The redhead seemed to be very frustrated with something: by the way she slammed her bag next to her and grabbed her fork. After noticing Hermione and meeting her uncannily unnerved glance, her expression softened and she looked down to the letter. Her eyebrows rose slightly, as she nudged Hermione.

"What is it?" She asked, but as Hermione didn't answer, Lily threw her a knowing look. "In any case, we'll find out any second. You should open it." She warned as Hermione nodded slowly, because the temperature in the letter was already rising.

Hermione took a deep breath and opened the letter, as a booming voice sounded out, which most likely every pureblood in the room recognized, hence all the dropped chins and growing eyes.

"My dearest Hermione! It seems like a decade since we've talked, even though it was only a month or so! Well, I just wanted to make sure you're not getting all your work done because you're such a perfection freak, and you need to go out more socially. Fail a couple of classes maybe? Get a taste of life?" Alphard Black's voice gave out a chuckle, as Hermione buried her face in her hand. Sirius was now giving her a strange look and James looked like he got unsuccessful plastic surgery.

"Well, anyways, I can't quite recall why I'm writing this letter. Or more accurately composing this howler. I know it's meant for only disputes and bad stuff, but I just _love_ embarrassing you or Sirius in front of your friends. I love you, and you know it. Once again, happy birthday, my dearest Hermione! You've grown so much since we've celebrated your birthday last. Remember that time when you were five years old and you jumped off the hedge into the fountain on your birthday saying that you wished for yourself to become a broomstick? Yeah, that was the most hilarious baby moment of you. I do believe you broke your nose and hand... Possibly your foot, but I can't remember any details."

At this moment, Hermione felt like doing the honour of ripping the paper into shreds by herself, without the help of the howler. Her uncle was embarrassing her so much, especially since she didn't want anyone to know about her birthday, which was going to be very confidential and enclosed.

"I hope to see you on Christmas Break. You do know how everyone hosts Christmas parties? Well maybe you'll be my date, because I wouldn't mind taking such a pretty thing like you." At this moment, howls of laughter were heard from all over the room, especially from James, but Sirius was staring at the letter, completely dumbfounded, jaw unhinged to the floor.

"Now I hope you have a great dinner! By the way, your gift will be found in the mess of a confetti left after this thing explodes and your second present will be brought possibly later this evening or early next morning. However everything comes around. Best wishes and I hope on seeing you again!" and with that, the letter exploded into black and red confetti, which covered all of Hermione and her plate. Luckily she had finished eating all her food, because otherwise it would be solely uneatable, but surprisingly, it ended up being quite eatable.

When Hermione squinted and wiped the confetti off her face, some of it accidentally got into her mouth. She wrinkled her nose under the impression of tasting paper, but surprisingly it tasted like chocolate instead... Were there always such options on howlers? To write a nice letter and make it explode into a chocolate mess?

Hermione raised her eyebrows and grinned to herself, only to remember that everyone was staring at her. Remus' nose was visibly twitching and Hermione could understand that his love for chocolate drew him closer and closer to the delicious desert.

"Hermione," he was the one who broke the silence, as she maintained that wicked grin on her face. She raised her eyes and looked into his amber ones innocently. "Is that..." is eyes widened with interest and curiosity, "chocolate?"

"Potentially with raspberry sauce." Hermione threw him an amused look, while throwing a piece of what had once been the ribbon, now raspberry flavoured chocolate, into her mouth. "Here." She passed him the plate, which he eagerly started tasting.

There was still slight chattering around them, but more or less silence, which was disturbed by someone down the Gryffindor table calling out "Happy birthday!" which Hermione highly recognized as being Logan Bell, which made her grin and Sirius tense up. "Have a good one!" More and more people started calling out congratulations from different tables, and acceptable grunts were heard from the Slytherin one, which brought Hermione an equal amount of pleasure as the rest.

A cough was heard from the direction of the teachers and everyone hushed down to see Dumbledore standing up in front of everyone. "A very happy birthday to you, Ms. White." The Headmaster smiled at the Gryffindor, who grinned in return.

"Thanks, Professor!" she called to him, and she could swear she saw his eye twinkle, even though she was sitting in the middle of the hall, bringing quite a distance between the two.

"May your wishes always come true, for it is our wishes, on which we build our reality." He smiled at her, as Hermione nodded back, taking his words to heart, as his gaze pierced her. It was quite unrealistic how this old man could simply look at you from such a distance and honestly take a look into your soul and thoughts. His face went back to normal as he smiled cheerfully and announced dessert to the hall.

The plates changed, luckily leaving Remus his plate of chocolate, which he was obediently eating, as he gave Hermione the most loving look it was possible to conjure, and anyone from the side could see how much the werewolf loved chocolate. His face was lit up, even though it was unnaturally pale, hence the full moon coming in a week. Remus' tiredness was concealed by his excitement and thankfulness.

"Hermione, why didn't you tell us that is was your birthday?" James asked, leaning over the table, eye twitching with curiosity. "We could've gotten you a present... Like a toilet seat or a pair of Slughorn's trousers." He added on with a laugh, as Sirius nodded eagerly.

"You should've told us. We could throw a big party in the Common Room and get drinks from Hogsmeade." Sirius added on smartly, as Hermione raised her eyebrow.

"Drinks from Hogsmeade? Huh, how would you do that?" She threw him an amused juice as she swore she saw Lily spit all her pumpkin juice back into her cup and turn red with girly giggles.

Everyone turned to the redhead, who was coughing and laughing at the same time. Finally, when she got her breath back, she grinned wildly, as Hermione had never seen before, and said. "I can tell you, Mione. I got that information a while back." She added, throwing James a cheeky wink, which made him look away underneath the table.

Bombarded with questions and demands, Hermione forgot about the present her dearest uncle gave her, after he decided to embarrass her. When all attention was turned to Ginny and Luna (who decided to sit with the Gryffindors that day) and everyone was exclaiming and badgering them about not saying anything on behalf of the event, Hermione took the small velvet box and opened it, peering in carefully as if a ticking time bomb might've been concealed by her prankster uncle.

Instead, after waiting for some kind of joke, or possibly dementor to pop out of the box, she opened it to discover a ring... And not just a ring. From what she had learnt these were called family rings, which were a part of the family heirloom, considerable and accepted usually in pureblood families. The witch or wizard would wear the ring from a certain age, usually eleven or from the moment they were recognized as magical.

The ring looked beautiful, especially the emplaced diamond in the middle – from any angle Hermione looked at it, it caught on the light and shimmered in different beautiful colours, bringing a whole new magical look to it. The band was simple and silver, possibly made of white gold, but the stunning diamond took the attention away. Hermione handled it gently, putting it on her middle finger. At first the ring was small, and only fit past one joint, but it gradually increased in size and readjusted to fit perfectly.

"Hermione!" a voice interrupted the brunette's thoughts and her head snapped away from the enchantment of the jewellery, and met Luna's happy midnight blue eyes nudged Hermione with impatience. Hermione and the three girls got up and left the table. Hermione thought she heard someone call her name, white was probably Sirius, but she felt as if she heard him only through a dream, so she didn't bother turning around and answering.

All she could remember from that moment on was the four of them running up the stairs, giggling and laughing, discussing rumours, laughing at cheesy jokes, such as Luna's infamous nargle joke, which she told all the time, but which no one understood. Nevertheless, everyone laughed at it anyways, because they were all in such a mood where everything was considered funny, even the serious paintings, sad stories which urged tears or anything else.

With a devious twinkle in her eye, Lily and Ginny sneaked to the Three Broomsticks to buy a couple of bottles of butterbeer as well as some candy on the way back, once they were passing through Honeydukes.

The rest of the evening, the girls drank and ate and shouted and laughed. Lily kept distressing the whole time that Hermione didn't tell her about her birthday.

Ginny had gotten Hermione a bunch of different clothes, beauty products and makeup, while Luna got her a book on "_Flying Animals and Plants of Differentiated Subspecies", _which was extremely coincidentally written by the senior Mr. Lovegood, as in the one who 'used to be' Luna's grandfather.

Lily still felt put down, but they drowned their sorrows in happy thoughts and memories. Aside from that, Lily had a muggle camera and they snapped photos for the whole night.

~OoOoO~

It was already the early morning of Saturday – Lily had run off to study in the library for one of her test, which Flitwick hinted on their last lesson, but Hermione, Luna and Ginny decided to take the day off. The marauders went off to Hogsmeade (according to the girls' map) for a few hours, and returned just in time for lunch. The girls saw them entering when they were leaving.

"Hermione!" Ginny whispered as the boys passed, and Hermione raised an eyebrow to inform her friend that she was listening. "The Marauders' Map! We need to change it!" she continued hoarsely, as Hermione's eyes widened, and a mystical smile came upon Luna's face.

"So we're raiding the boys' dormitory?" she asked hopefully, as Hermione stuck out her lip in consideration and nodded, and as if on cue, all three of them started running up the stairs, taking three at a time.

They knew that the boys would take a _very_ long time eating, and that they had plenty of time, but nonetheless, it would most likely to be easier to stay clear of them the whole time, because it would be a huge mess to collide with them in the process. The three girls made note not to fall into the missing trick staircase and leaped towards the Gryffindor dormitories.

"_Mimsy Wimsy." _Luna struggled for air, as they stopped at the portrait leading to the Gryffindor Common Room. Running about Hogwarts wasn't always the greatest, idea, especially due to the changing staircases, which could've decided to go somewhere else right when you were on the last step, so really it became more of a survival challenge when you were in a rush.

"Well said." The Fat Lady proclaimed, swinging open, as all the girls ran in. Luckily there wasn't really anyone inside and no one would see them sneaking into the boys' dormitories. That just made the whole thing much easier.

They climbed up the stairs and were all thinking how lucky they were that the boys didn't have charm on their staircase. Gryffindor probably thought it through that some girls would just use common sense not to go there, but as they say, common sense is not too common...

Just as Hermione grabbed the handle of the door, she saw a whoosh of red and the next thing she knew, Ginny kicked the door which swung open. Hermione stood there, hand still out, ready to grab the handle and slowly turned her head to face Ginny, who was grinning like a maniac, and Luna who was twirling in circles behind her.

"Sorry, Mione, I just really wanted to do that..." the redhead justified to her friend and they all walked in... Into a room of mess. How exactly did the boys live here? Ginny didn't seem to mind it, since she got it all the time with her brothers, but Hermione decided that she would never understand boys and their weird awkward habits.

"_Accio _map." Hermione said smartly, but the map didn't come up, which made Luna snort.

"Obviously you would try that, Hermione. I don't really think that the Marauders would just leave it lying around for someone to come and take. Even if it were a Gryffindor..." she added thoughtfully, as Hermione groaned and stamped her feet.

"This isn't fair! It's going to take _ages_ to find the map in this mess!" the brunette felt like a six year old, but at the moment she wasn't completely concerned about her behaviour, but about how to find the map.

"Couldn't they have taken it with them? Since they went to Hogsmeade?" Ginny pointed out, bringing out a pretty good point, which Hermione didn't overthink.

"They didn't." Luna argued, raising her finger. "This morning when I was reading the most recent addition of the _Quibbler_, I saw them leaving, and Sirius asked if they needed the map, but James told him to put it back. It was a quite interesting article though..." Luna added, smiling dottily. "It was about the comparison of merpeople and centaurs. Some think that they are related in some customary way. Some think that merpeople are just water centaurs who drowned and had their souls taken away..."

"Well they are soulless; you can say that again..." Hermione muttered under her breath. "Alright, let's think..." she started, but Ginny cheekily cut her off.

"I think we're already trying to do that."

"You're not helping, Gin. Who would they keep the map with?" the Hermione asked her friends, who shrugged nonchalantly.

"Probably the most neat and organized one?" Ginny asked, and eyes widened. "Oh..."

All three girls' eyes shifted to the most organized bed. The curtains were open, bed was nicely made, a small bedside bookshelf stood there piled with books and his trunk was halfway tucked under his bed...

"Remus would never leave it half tucked..." Luna said thoughtfully, as the girls muttered in agreement. "Oh Sirius, you silly duck." She laughed, and all three of them headed out to raid the trunk.

After searching it a couple of times, Ginny came across it in one of the side pockets. They pulled it out triumphantly.

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." Hermione muttered, pointing her wand at the map, which immediately transformed and fair enough, there was a Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley standing in the Gryffindor boys' dormitory.

"And we're definitely up to no good..." Ginny agreed as they studied the map. "I think a small _confundus_ spell will do?" she asked Hermione who tilted her head from side to side and thought about it.

"Frankly, I think it'll do the trick." Luna smiled at her friends, and reached for her own wand. "_Confudus!_" she exclaimed, flicking her wand at the map and they got uncannily pleasing results. The three girls grinned at each other and high-fived, but their blood chilled over the noise they heard right after.

"Come off it, Prongs. I was just kidding."

"No, Padfoot. That was awful. She'll hate me forever now."

"But you _do _know you want to shag her. And doesn't she already?"

"Oh sod off, Pads. Moony is the only one who understands me properly."

The three girls exchanged looks of horrification. Ginny shoved the map back into Remus' trunk and pushed it under the bed roughly as the footsteps got louder and louder.

"That's because Moony's a sweetheart and everybody loves him."

"And _that_, my dearest fellow Marauder, is because I am not an egotistical and cheeky git to everyone." They heard Remus' voice sound and, which made them pale and run towards the deeper into their chambers.

The three girls covered their mouths with their hands and one by one slid out the window, which Hermione opened as quietly as she could. Thankfully Hogwarts had windowsills on either side of the window, which just seemed to sort of stick out of the tower. Hermione climbed out to the left, and scrambling to the top of the window, as Ginny and Luna froze on either sides, in obvious hopes that the Marauders wouldn't see.

They could still hear to voices, which stopped suddenly... And they forgot to shut the windows, but that was aside from the point, since they were trying not to fall to their death, making the usually green and lush-looking grass turn into a dreadful snarling enemy. Luna was already slipping off as voices resumed.

"Stop, Sirius. I smell something." That was Remus' voice for sure, which was nearing near the window. Damn him and his extraordinary werewolf senses.

"What's wrong, Moony?"

"It smells like Hermione, Ginny and Luna in here."

Hermione and the girls exchanged horrified glances, and furrowed their eyebrows at one another, as Ginny grabbed her hair with one hand, using the other to hold onto the window, and lifted her hair to her nose, inhaling and mouthed. "At least we smell good!"

"Hey, Padfoot did you shag them during lunch in here?" James' voice sounded out, as the girls once again exchanged amused glances and pretended to gag and the boys' idiocy and James' sarcasm... Or at least they hoped they did.

"First, my dearest Prongsy," Sirius started, and Hermione couldn't fight back a smile, as she rubbed her face with one hand. "Luna always hangs out with the slimy Slytherin Snape, so no, that would not be her. If she does such a thing, it's probably in a broom closet or in the Slytherin Common Room." Luna's face was overcome with shock, as she waved hand horizontally at her neck, which obviously meant no.

"Secondly," the cheeky Gryffindor continued. "I would never shag Ginny, out of respect to our dearest Moony." At these words, Ginny turned all red and looked away, and the girls exchanged impressed and meaningful smiles, and continued listening. "'Marauders' code, you do understand that. And lastly, even if I wanted to, Hermione would never give me the time or place to shag her because she bloody has a thing against me. I don't know what, but she will like me, I promise, by the end of the year. She's gorgeous and amazing and smart."

Now it was Hermione's turn to blush like a Hufflepuff third year at the words said about her.

"Unlike the other airheads you've dated? We'll see, Paddy. Maybe she'll jus—"

"Hey, guys, did any of you leave the window open when we left."

Now that was Remus' voice, which was practically right outside the window. Hermione's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when the lycan stuck his head out of the window.

"Yeah, probably. Pete's owl was delivering a letter, so he probably did." Hermione winced as Ginny and Luna flattened themselves to the brick wall and partially against the cold metal of the window panels. Remus looked out into the far and gave out a deep longing sigh. Then he turned around and closed the window and the girls were left alone with the howling wind and shining sun.

The three of them let out synchronised sighs of relief. They stood like that for a couple of minutes and realized that they were on the roof of the Gryffindor tower.

"Never again, never again." Ginny chuckled to herself, but yelped right after, as her foot slipped slightly off and she fell, only to find herself grabbing onto the ledge of the window. "LUNA!" she grunted harshly. "Maybe it's _time?_" she gasped, as Hermione fought back a yelp, as Luna jumped off the ledge herself.

Hermione hated that stunt. Luna being crazy and all, jumping off of random places, but she had to get used to it because her crazy blond friend never got hurt from it. Out of all the times she did it, in the end, she was always in one peace – a beautiful elegant Pegasus soaring over the earth. Hermione snorted and Luna transformed into her animagus form.

When they learned how to do it, they all knew Luna would turn into something crazy, but they were crossing their fingers and hoping that she wouldn't turn into something useless like a pumpkin or a gnome.

They were very impressed and happy, because since the other two of them were animals who would be on solid ground only, and Luna had the ability to do both, it would definitely help them in many different situations, like the current one.

Hermione guffawed in an unladylike manner, as Ginny struggled to keep herself on the ledge and Luna soared happily below them, flying in circles and going different stunts and flips, showing off in front of everybody. Hermione knew what Luna, well, the flying horse, wanted Ginny to do. Groaning and clearly not willing to participate in any of her friend's maniac-like stunts Ginny looked longingly at Hermione.

"I'm sorry, Gin. It's either that or crawling back to the boys' dormitory and saying that you creep them during the night." Hermione gave her friend a tight-lipped smile, as Ginny let go of the ledge.

She kept falling, and falling, and falling, as Luna circled around her and right when Ginny was about to fall into some sort of ditch, she finally flew underneath, making Ginny land painfully on her stomach, as Hermione grinned. She heard Ginny cursing loudly, as she pulled herself onto Luna the animagus.

"Come over here, Lunefeather!" Hermione cooed from her current resting position, as Lunefeather flew over to her and snorted playfully. She hovered in mid-air waiting for Hermione to climb on, and when the brunette did, they flew off to firm ground.

"I don't understand." Hermione heard Ginny mumble from in front of her. Why does she always want me to do the stunt and Hermione never gets to do it?" Hermione smiled to herself, enjoying the freedom and Ginny's grumpiness.

When she was small, she would never dare to even lift up two meters off the ground, but Quidditch changed her as much as life did, and now flying was one of her most favourite things to do. And she loved it.

The most exciting thing was that Luna actually turned into a magical creature. Neither Hermione nor Ginny knew how she did it because it wasn't typical for a normal unregistered animagus to turn into a mythical creature. At first, they thought that Luna jinxed the potion, or her hair influenced the spell, but everyone was just happy to have Luna as she was.

Riding Lunefeather was basically being on an extremely dangerous rollercoaster with no seatbelts. Luna was one crazy animagus – she did flips, loop-de-loops, corkscrews, dramatic falls and dives, but luckily this didn't affect any one of the girls, but only brought them enjoyment. If Lunefeather ever gave someone with a weak heart and stomach a ride, they would most definitely have a heart attack right on her back.

Hermione knew that Luna would only stop amusing herself when she would get tired, so she sighed and slumped on Ginny's shoulder, wrapping her arms around her waist and squeezing her thighs on Lunefeather for extra support.

After a while of flying and flipping, Lunefeather finally got tired and with one flamboyant snort, they slowly started descending to the ground. It was twilight and the lush forest was now turning darker and darker by the moment, as it contrasted with the vividly beautiful sunset, illuminated a sweet pink and purple gradient contour.

The three girls rushed into the castle, just hoping that they wouldn't get locked out.

"I'm hungry!" Ginny pouted angrily, crossing her arms over her chest and stomping across the entrance hall.

"You're hungry? I could eat a Pegasus right now." Luna giggled, as Hermione and Ginny rolled their eyes, clearly understanding him hilarious pun.

"I'm tired!" Ginny whinnied, slumping and wrapping an arm around Hermione's neck, as Hermione snorted and kept on moving on, jumping from one square tile to the other, avoiding to step on the lines.

"Make up your mind, as you hungry or tired? Maybe you should go to the kitchen? Because being tired means that you won't be able to walk over there and your hunger is just making you tired..." Hermione reasoned, as Ginny stared at her, awestruck.

"You're weird."

"That's too bad, isn't it?"

"I guesso. You're special that way."

"But there's nothing wrong with being weird." Luna smiled airily, obviously thinking of herself. "If being weird is being yourself, then everything is fine, because you aren't pretending to be someone else." She concluded proudly, as Ginny gripped her head, and headed towards the stairs, taking the steps three at a time.

"Stop it, you gits! You're giving me a headache! That's it, Luna, you're coming to the kitchens with me." The redhead grunted, tugging Luna's sleeve and starting to descend back down the stairs they just ascended.

Hermione gasped in mock-mortification. "I don't get an invitation?"

"You're not special enough."

"Ah, but a couple of minutes ago, you said that I was special."

Ginny rolled her eyes and snapped at Hermione. "Cut it out, Ms. I'm-the-brightest-witch-of-my-age." Then she laughed as she and Luna walked off into the direction of the kitchens and Hermione shook her head cheerfully and headed upstairs.

Deciding to take a couple of detours, she turned to the third floor. The torches were dimly lit as dark shadows flickered on the walls. Any other time, this place would've seemed fine, but right now it gave Hermione the shivers. She had been here with Harry and Ron in their first year, when they hid away from Filch, which was exactly the moment when they discovered Fluffy for the first time.

Fluffy was probably only a baby at that moment, so were all of Hagrid's monsters. The door to the empty room, which led to the chamber, was on Hermione's left hand side, and she couldn't help but shake her head at what happened. There were shadows flickering in the distance, as she heard hushed voices.

She froze in her spot, and shouts were heard out the next second.

"I AM A PREFECT AND I AM DEMANDING FOR YOU TO STOP! BLACK! POTTER! GET BACK HERE!" Hermione heard a slightly familiar voice, although it had a bossy fringe to it, and quirked an eyebrow. Shadows appeared on the wall, and Hermione realized that they were running towards her. Her mouth formed into a perfect 'o' as she spun on her heel and started running towards the exit.

"Sorry, Diggory!" James' voice sounded out, as he rounded a random corner and disappeared, but Sirius didn't follow, because he was hit with a stunning spell. The next thing she knew, Hermione was on the ground as well with an arrogant Hufflepuff Prefect staring at her with a discontent look on his face. Despite him fatally violent expression, he was completely covered in gold and red goo, which was dripping off of him.

"_Finite._" He said simply, raising an eyebrow, as Hermione groaned, and so did Sirius, beside her. "You two will be serving detention with me in the library on Tuesday from seven to nine because you were caught setting up a prank. Absolutely no talking, and only work allowed. And twenty points from Gryffindor." He sniffed, and Hermione realized that she didn't like Cedric's father at all. No wonder he told her to be prepared.

Hermione had thought that Cedric's dad would be a slightly more polite, like Cedric had been. Amos Diggory didn't seem like a charmer and didn't have his son's good looks either. From what she had heard over the school Diggory always bragged about himself and his family, put people down, and even didn't let the other Prefect do any work. Overall, he was a bossy egoistical brat.

"But I didn't do anything!" Hermione cried incredulously, but the bossy Hufflepuff ignored her.

"Well, Diggory, what's got your wand in a knot? Did you girlfriend reject you again?" Sirius prated on. "Or it is your Transfiguration Mark? I heard you wanted to go for an Auror, but they don't let people with extremely big heads to do there." Sirius smirked, as Hermione sniffled, seeing that Amos was about to explode. She grabbed Sirius' hand and gave Amos a tight-lipped smile.

"Tuesday at seven. Got it." She smiled, wiping goo off her hair and dragging Sirius backward.

"YOU LOOK FLATTERING IN RED AND GOLD! I THINK I MIGHT JUST FANCY YOU!" Sirius yelled over his shoulder to the smoldered fuming Hufflepuff and turned contently, as Hermione rolled her eyes at the frustrated cry that followed from the Prefect.

She threw Sirius a clearly agitated look, but his smirk didn't change. "What?" he asked simply, as if nothing in the world mattered to him at that moment.

"Nothing." She mimicked him evenly. They continued walking down the hall in silence, until Hermione realized something. Her eyes widened, and she exclaimed "Shite!"

Sirius turned to her with an amused expression on his face. Bookworm-pureblood Hermione White was swearing. "What happened?"

Hermione stuttered, honestly not knowing what to say because the following day it was the full moon and she promised Luna and Ginny that the three of them would go out together and find the Marauders in their animagus forms.

"I'm slightly occupied Tuesday evening..." She muttered.

"Well, so am I." Sirius compromised, as Hermione shook her head.

"During our detention."

"Same with me." He nodded somberly, and Hermione realized that he realized that too. She could swear that she heard him utter _"Moony's gonna kill me"_ but pretended not to notice. She decided that later some time she'd have to pick on him and ask him what he had planned. "Well, at least we have each other's company." He winked at her cheekily, as Hermione rolled her eyes because he was flirting with her once again.

"When will you stop being such a flirt?" She sighed exasperatedly, rubbing her face with her hand, as he shrugged nonchalantly.

"I haven't the foggiest." Sirius didn't really seem to care about his own immaturity, but they kept on walking. "Wait." He stopped her on the stairs, as she turned and looked at him, as amusement flew over his face.

"Yes?" she flushed suddenly, not even knowing where it came from.

"How am I a flirt?"

"You just are!"

"Well, you're the one who's holding my hand." He gave her an amused look, as Hermione gasped and looked at their hands, which were still interlocked. Her face morphed to complete shock, as she basically threw his hand away and raised her nose and continued walking up the stairs, as she found particular interest in the moving paintings, in most of which everyone was sleeping since it was particularly late and only their wands illuminated the dark staircases.

"I guess your reputations proceeds you." She sniffled, as Sirius chuckled, because he knew that Hermione would never let an argument fall with her losing.

"How would you know? You've only been here for under a month."

"That's how big your reputation is." She said calmly, not facing him, though there was no malice in her words and anyone could understand that she was arguing in a joking matter.

No one could ever deny how popular Sirius and James were, even someone who had just arrived at the school. Even first years giggled at the presence of the two Gryffindor sex-gods, who would aristocratically glide around the school, throwing out winks and arrogant smirks. It was no secret that they were devilishly handsome, incredulously rich, a couple of the most valuable Quidditch players of the century, extremely funny, but at the same time very smart.

Even in her own time, Hermione had to have a mental argument with herself to keep down a blush when talking to the older Sirius. Aside from the untidy oily hair, awful body form with gruesome tattoos, and somber grey eyes, he was fit for an old man, and Hermione had a crush on him from the moment she met him during her third year.

"Don't underestimate me." Sirius' playful voice cut through her depressing thoughts, after which she felt mildly sick, and felt her face turn white from sorrow, but thankfully nothing was seen in the darkness. "I am still full of surprises."

Hermione could practically hear the smirk on his face, though she was not facing him and for a start she smiled slightly and grinned to herself.

She gave out a small laugh. "I'll be sure to be ready." She two of them walked into the Common Room after uttering the password and Hermione hurried up the stairs. "Goodnight, Black."

"Night, White." She heard him grin from behind her, as she let out a small giggle and hurried up the stairs.

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**Ehh… that chapter was kinda 'meh', but at least it's covered a couple of topics :D How'd you like Luna's animagus? Or the birthday presents and suchh… So in this chapter Hermione sort of admits that she likes Sirius, but she's not so sure about it yet, and Sirius also admits that he likes her (to his best mates of course) only somehow… the girls heard ;) **

**Umm… what else? Remus and his obsession with chocolate, and Amos Diggory, ugh.**

**Anyways, please review, it would be a courteous pleasure ;) **

**Until next time,**

**GirlxMarauder**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Or anything to do with it, except my vivid imagination. **

**Thank you to my lovely reviewers, who make my day every time I post a chapter: ****TsukiyoTenshi, SlytherinToTheCore, Terrence Rogue, adrianiforever, hummingpetal, casper22, Esin of Sardis, TS17isme, loves2readalways, mekom****, **** .96780, Sad4ngel, Emilie CAite, HisSecretLover18, erythra-selena. You truly make me smile every time you leave a review :)**

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"**And she spoke words that would melt in your hands, and she spoke words of wisdom…" ~Undercover Martyn, Two Door Cinema Club**

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**Chapter 13**

What was wrong with her? At one moment she was giving the boy a hard time and basically beating him up, when the next she was shamelessly flirting with him and giving him charismatic signals. Whoah, she had to get her facts straight and get her head back in the game.

Everyone seemed to be asleep, except for Lily, who was muttering something from her four poster bed. Hermione shook her head and chuckled, until she heard that Lily was in fact not muttering, but cursing in a hoarse whisper.

Though the room was not lit at all and no light seeped through the drawn curtains of the poster beds, Hermione could hear where the voice was coming from and any doubts she had about whether or not it was Lily, or Ginny muttering in her sleep, she seemed to have the right redhead in mind. Raising a furrowed eyebrow, Hermione took her wand out of her pocket and flicked it, making a small light spark on the tip of her wand.

She edged across the room, carefully stepping over a messy stack of books and piles of clothes near Ginny's bed and pulled back the drapes to Lily's bed.

And, as she had guessed, there sat Lily was sitting scratching away furiously. She had what seemed like a muggle diary and a ballpoint pen in hand, which you would never find in the wizarding community. The redhead seemed to be furiously scribbling something down, and gasped, looking up at Hermione when the curtains were moved.

Her emerald green eyes showed obvious discomfort about something that had happened, and Hermione could also tell that she wasn't in the best mood because her wand hand was as white as snow as it gripped the pen. She was sitting cross-legged in her plaid blue pajamas with a white tank, which loosely hung on her.

"Merlin, Hermione, you scared me." She exclaimed with a startled expression crossing her face. She put her hand over her heart, beside which a silver heart-shaped locket rested. Lily followed Hermione's line of view and picked up the locket with two fingers. "It's a silver heart-shaped locket with an emerald in the middle. I got it last Christmas from an unknown salt and pepper owl. It didn't have an address or a name." She explained, smiling slightly, obviously pleased with the gift, but slightly concerned as well. "The emerald can switch colours so satisfy my clothes, but most of the time I just like to keep it the way it is. It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"It is..." Hermione marvelled.

It seemed that Lily had been quite a popular Gryffindor figure, most likely since the year she started developing womanly features and characteristics, probably near the end of her fourth year. At that time, it seemed like she got many gifts from suitors and hopeful boys, all of which were most likely cocky and wanted to show off their richesse and high-class.

Harry told her about the memories he had, and although she wasn't completely sure, she remembered one in which Lily was discussing a couple of her dates, and how horribly they went.

"Sorry 'bout that." She smiled softly, as Lily's shocked face drifted down a slight bit and an amused smile overcame her face though there was the same tenseness she had acquired before. "Mind if I?—" Hermione gestured to the bed curiously, as Lily nodded her heard fervently.

"Of course!" she scooted over to give Hermione room to sit, as the brunette crossed her legs as well and sat across from the redhead.

She nodded knowingly to the diary. Lily smiled at her and put it up in the air. "It's a muggle thing, used to record your memories, feelings and emotions. Anything like that."

Hermione nodded approvingly, and squinted with one eye. "And which one of those are you recording right now." She sentence was clear and effective and Lily obviously seemed pretty surprised that Hermione had caught on that fact, so she just shrugged nonchalantly, randomly playing with the pages, but not daring to bend any of them. Hermione recognized it as her own habit, during which she fiddled with books but would murder herself if she bent any of the pages. It turned out to become a habit.

"Come on, Lils." Hermione put out her lower lip slightly, giving her a pouty face which could've even convinced Dumbledore to hand her over a sherbet lemon. "What happened? You could always tell me, because I'm ready to listen." Lily eyed Hermione curiously, while tapping her pen against her thigh trying to decide whether or not she could trust her.

Over the first month, the two girls had gotten close and Hermione felt like she acquired another sister. Since her childhood was always nerdy and full of books and no friends, she didn't have much of a social life, which made her secretly jealous of anyone who had brothers or sisters. They always had the chance to interact and play and have fun. On the other hand, she obviously wouldn't be jealous of a sibling-hood that Lily and Petunia had after they found out about Lily's witchcraft.

A long silence proceeded, and Lily's careful emerald green eyes observed Hermione cautiously and steadily. At last, after the silent observation was over, Lily exhaled loudly.

"Alright, I'll tell you..." she muttered, pushing her pillow back behind her, for a chance to get more comfortable. "It's nothing really, I'm surprised that I'm even paying attention to this nonsense, but it's the seventh year Ravenclaws."

Hermione rolled onto her stomach and perched her head on her arms. "Ravenclaws? Aren't they supposed to be super nice and smart?" she inquired thoughtfully, thoroughly portraying an innocent new student who has done nothing but studied and read books their whole lives.

"_Supposed_ to be." Lily pointed out sternly, biting her lip. "That's how the stereotype goes on. All Gryffindors are chivalrous, Hufflepuffs are loyal, Ravenclaws are smart and Slytherins are evil. But some Gryffindors are chivalrously stubborn, some Hufflepuffs are loyal airheads, some Ravenclaws can be daft but smart in the most negative ways you can imagine." The brunette noted how she left the Slytherins out of the comparison.

"When I first came to the school, it was a great shock for me, my parents being muggles and all," Lily started, pushing her red hair behind her ear and shifting slightly on her bed. "And I always thought that everyone was going to be nice, and so they were. All except for the Slytherins of course, but I still tolerated them.

"The years passed by, everyone grew up, and I believe," Lily squinted into the light, as if trying to remember a long lost memory, "It was after summer before fifth year. The girls went over physical changes, you know, their bodies and everything?" Lily continued, but that this moment she didn't let Hermione answer her question because she was just starting a rant.

"Anyways, the Marauders were now like the Beatles of Hogwarts – everyone loved them, especially Black and Potter. The Hufflepuffs remained nice, but whenever a slightly adorable action was directed towards them, they melted into mush, and it looked like they were high because they weren't used to anything of the sort. Guys asking them out, or flirting with them. You following?" She asked, as Hermione shook herself.

She simply nodded, as Lily studied her thoroughly, approved and continued. "But the Ravenclaws were the worst. They swooped up on Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and even their own Ravenclaws. It was pretty horrific, because they were like vultures and the boys were the prey. Ever since then, they've been pushing me around because they have a bloody thing with that Potter prick and they think there's something going on between us." She grit her teeth tightly. She was panting because she was basically yelling at that moment, her knuckles white, face red, and eyes blazing.

Hermione's face morphed into surprise, as she tied her hair back, for it was carelessly falling over her face. Lily sat in her spot, trying to calm herself down.

There seemed to be no way to calm her down. "So..." Hermione implied, "They think that you and James are dating?"

"I don't know what they bloody think. They're wankers, the lot of them! I'm pretty sure they've been trying to slip love potions into their morning juices, but so far it's never worked, since the Marauders do tests on their food every day, just as a precaution. I think that they also made some sort of pill that prevents any magic from working on them."

"Like in the Odyssey?" Hermione asked thoughtfully, forcing her to bite her tongue afterwards, for that was an Ancient Greek book, but Lily was just as smart and noticed it.

"That exactly. Right before Odysseus went into Circe's palace, the flower that Hermes gave to him." She stated happily, and clasped her hands together. "You've read it?"

"I slightly had an obsession with muggle books when I was a kid." Hermione thought up quickly, giving a sheepish grin, which Lily returned full heartedly.

"Your parents let you?"

"'Course they did." Hermione snorted cheerfully, improvising on the spot, although her own memories were helping her out and were hovering in her brain. "Occasionally every month they'd test me on any book I'd read. Also they gave me random riddle, such as 'Why did Diagon Alley explode? Because there was a Leaky Cauldron.'" Hermione winked to Lily, who chuckled slightly, and it was evident that her mood was better.

Hermione shared a couple of her other experiences with her friends, which was summoned with laughter and by the end, the two were lying on the bed with red faces and awesome self-esteems.

"But I'm serious," Lily pulled on her stern face, though it was evident her mind was still laughing at some joke, "I've been seeing lately that Black's following you around and that he has his eye on you. Maybe you like him—"

"Lils, but I—"

"I'm not saying that you do or don't." Lily interrupted her, and continued talking. "But if he continues following you around, be careful around the Ravenclaws. You haven't got a clue what they've been trying to do to me lately, just to get me out of the way and get to James."

Hermione turned her head to the side, as brown eyes met green, both seeking truth and honest answers. "How bad was it?"

"Couple times down to the Hospital Wing. Since then, I suspect that James has gotten more protective of me and also does a spell check before I come into the hall." Lily muttered, as Hermione nodded. So Lily _did_ know how much James liked her, so it was possible that she still reciprocated his feelings only in not such an evident way...

"I'll keep that in mind." Hermione yawned and stretched slightly, as Lily did the same, and they giggled at the coincidence. "Well, better go to bed then. Don't wanna be late for Quidditch tomorrow or anything." She groaned slightly, as Lily smiled warmly.

"I'll be in the bleachers, cheering you on." She winked, as Hermione chortled, grabbed her still lit wand and jumped off the bed, sliding into her own.

"'Night, Lils."

"'Night, Mione."

Hermione pulled her curtains around her and lay in her bed. She stretched slightly again, and noticed the ring once more. She hadn't had a chance to properly look at it when she first got it a couple of days ago, and it was more than just a fancy diamond.

Whilst the ring was breathtaking and unbelievably stunning, Hermione, being as observing as she always was, took the time to observe the surrounding material. Overtop of the precious gem, there was an inscription in Old English text, spelling out "WHITE" in careful letters. Right underneath the gem, there was a careful inscription on beautiful ribbon banner saying "_Toujours juste"._

Hermione's eyes widened, as she remembered Sirius' family's coat of arms, which had "_Toujours pur_" engraved. Hermione shook her head and muttered '_nox_', so the lights in the wand, illuminating her personal enclosed area went off.

~OoOoO~

"Waaaaaaaake up, Mione!"

"Go away..." Hermione mumbled in reply, still peacefully drifting in the darkness of her imagination.

"Hermiooone!"

"What?" She mumbled at the annoying voice.

"WAKE UP!"

"STOP SHOUTING!" Hermione yelled back hoarsely, swatting at whoever was there and deliberately smacked someone straight across the face, though she knew not who it was, but at that moment she didn't care.

Muffled snickering and laughter was heard, and it seemed that the person had left. Hermione exhaled peacefully and buried herself deeper under her covers. It was so warm and cozy, and her brain wasn't in the mood to get up bloody early in the morning, and he was nearly asleep, when it was evident that the curtains were parted quickly and she felt as if her covers were getting pulled out of her bed.

Someone gripped her legs and the side of her torso, and quickly lifted her out of her bed bridal-style. Laughter was heard from all around her as she whinnied and struggled to escape the tight grip which had her entangled in such a bad mood. She kicked and tried smacking whoever it was, but instead the person chuckled and laughed heartily.

"Sorry, dearest Mione. I couldn't resist taking you out of bed this morning." Sirius' cheerful voice sounded from over top of her.

Hermione wanted to grin and smack him until he was knocked unconscious. "Come on, Sirius, let me go. What have I ever done to you that made you do this?"

Sirius reconsidered, as there was a small pause, but evidently Hermione understood he was opening the portrait door. "Well, if you haven't noticed, you have... Oh the fun, where to start? You were flirting with my old man of an uncle—"

"Mmm, Sirius, jealous of your own uncle, I see." Hermione smiled up into the light and opened her eyes enough to see the grinning Sirius, his beautiful hair falling over his face.

"Obviously," he snorted and continued on. "You, the little beast you are, have tried to seduce my dear Moony, not to mention Prongs as well, I believe I caught you snogging Slughorn in the dungeons one time—" he babbled on, "—possibly Avery and Nott as well. Helped out Slimy Slytherin Snape as well—"

"—Sirius." Hermione interrupted, penetrating him with the most evil and serious stare she could conjure in the morning, which was pretty evil, since she was grumpy to be stolen from her warm and soft bed and be brought to a place she didn't even know where she was. Sirius stopped and studied her, and for a moment Hermione got a feeling that he was going to drop her and leave her, but on the contrary he shrugged and kept on walking.

"You've been seducing everyone in your path, you beat me in Defense, as well as all the other subjects and I believe you still haven't replied to my question concerning Hogsmeade." He finished thoughtfully, as he arched his perfect eyebrows and gave Hermione a stare.

"Well, I'm sorry." She apologized sarcastically, trying to get herself more comfortable. "As you might've pointed out, I was too busy snogging Slytherins and professors." She drawled on and on.

Sirius threw her an original smirk and snickered "I caught you in the act. And I am the chivalrous knight who has to save you from your misery, and your imprisonment in the dungeons. Have no fear; you will be as safe as Lily is in the bleachers when she watches James' Quidditch games."

"Hey, who said that she watches James, and not me? Perhaps she has a thing for you or for Remus? You never know?" Hermione suggested smartly, as Sirius nodded approvingly.

He opened another door, which lead them outside. "That could always be the case. No one can resist my devilishly good looks." He smirked, as Hermione rolled her eyes once again and lifted herself slightly out of his arms, which were still gripping her tightly, and realized that they were on one of the suspension bridges, heading towards the change rooms and the Quidditch Pitch. "Although she could always be staring at Hagrid."

"Hmm, yes, indeed she might be." Hermione started mock-talking a posh-y way. "Haven't you seen Mr. Hagrid's beard lately. It is so cleverly splendid. I always want to touch it, when I'm around him. It looks—"

"Delicious?" Sirius played along with her, making Hermione giggle.

"Incorrigibly seducible." She guffawed confidentially, as the sunlight shone brightly making her squirm and cringe. Hermione opened on eye, and as she expected the pair of grey ones were staring at her. For a non-morning person, Sirius seemed so cheerful at that moment, as if nothing at all could bring down his spirits.

He let out a free laugh and started "Well I thin—"

"—Mr Black! What in the name of Merlin are you going with Ms. White?" an uncannily recognizable voice sounded out, and both of the teenagers, surprised gasped, as Sirius nearly dropped Hermione.

Hermione glanced up, horrified, to see Professor McGonagall staring them down, like a hawk ready to strike. She struggled out of Sirius' arms, but instead of releasing her, the boy held her tighter to his chest and smirked. Hermione looked helpless, and beyond that she felt helpless. She would think that it would be better to fail a course and get a stern look from McGonagall, then to be stared down whilst in the arms of one of the most seducible and player-like guys in the school.

The look of Professor McGonagall, which Hermione was still unaccustomed to, added to the effect. Hermione was used to the Professor who had already witnessed the existence of the Weasley twins and the Marauders, who seemed stern but already experienced, as she had to view horrific teenage scenes. But this young version of her Professor freaked her out.

She was wearing black working robes, which were sharply tailored, black hair tied in a tight bun, and multiple ancient looking roles in her left arm.

Honestly, it probably couldn't get any worse, since this was the daughter of the deceased Whites, (who apparently didn't get along with many of the Blacks) was in her pyjamas, in the arms of the rejected heir of the noble house of Black. Even witnessing Malfoy snogging Filch wouldn't be as bad.

"What ho, Minnie? On what occasion are you strolling so gracefully through the hallways of the domain of Professor Flitwick?" He wiped off his smirk, morphing his face in to a quite serious expression, which helped him defy and outline his purity and nobleness.

Professor McGonagall remained looking stern, although she was starting to look slightly annoyed as well. "That, Mr. Black, is none of your business. You constantly forget your place in this castle." The professor continued, as Sirius yawned playfully, and**Hermione squeezed her eyes shut, knowing that a very Sirius-like comment would follow the professor's remark.**

**"I am always below you, my dearest Minnie." He winked at her, or so it seemed from her tone, because the girl had her eyes shut and was unwilling to look. **

**"BLACK!" McGonagall shrieked, and Hermione jumped in surprise, almost hitting Sirius across the face. "Do you want detention?"**

**Sirius wrinkled his face. "What on earth would I want a detention for, Professor." The royal Black heir was looking at his professor with the same stern look she was regarding him with only a few moments prior. Professor McGonagall stared back at him, and it looked as if she was on the verge of tearing the seventh year apart. That was one of the most ironic things, since their animagus forms were supposedly arch-enemies. **

**"For insensibly blabbering out sexual comments." She shrieked, as Sirius looked taken back and slightly confused for a moment. Hermione didn't even understand what was going on. There was an awkward silence around then, and what made it even more awkward was that it was six o' clock in the morning and quite cold for a September morning, and Hermione was only in her pyjamas. **

**Sirius finally broke the silence by shaking his head, making his long devilishly handsome black hair to fall over his eyes. He looked up again at his stern professor. "Oh, Professor, don't you have a dirty mind. I meant below you in anything; intelligence, hiarchy and overall style." He said in complete seriousness. It was probably the first time Hermione saw Sirius being serious in anything. **

**Everyone looked uncomfortable, but Hermione felt uncomfortable. Another awkward silence staggered upon them, and all their heard were the cheery tweets of the birds outside, who were finishing up their days in the sun and were perfecting their winter nests and food. **

**"Well, then Mr. Black." The awkward silence was cut by McGonagall, who cleared her throat, and seemed extremely awkward, not wanting to deal with the teenager anymore. "Be on your way. Then again, where are you heading now?" **

**Hermione felt a smile pressing up on her face, since there wasn't anything extremely awkward McGonagall could say anymore. "To the Quidditch Pitch, Professor." Sirius stated professionally and completely out of tone, for it wasn't like him to be so serious. **

**"Ah, training for the sweet victory then." McGonagall continued sternly and straightened up. "Well," she coughed awkwardly, starting to pass Sirius. "Good luck, and practice hard." She patted him on the shoulder. "Ms. White, try not to catch a cold." She added on, before walking away.**

**"I'll try!" Hermione called after her, turning her head as much as she could, but the professor was already out of sight. The brunette exhaled loudly, patting her chest, as Sirius regarded her in an amused way. **

**He didn't say anything, but continued genuinely smiling, as they trudged through the halls. Or at least he did, she was just lying in his arms, trying to keep herself unfrozen, because six o' clock on a mid September morning wasn't the warmest of days, especially not in England. **

**If Hermione had to compare, she would admit that in the nineties it was much warmer in September than it was in the seventies or near eighties. It was a fact that only meteorologist would notice, proving one of the most studied theories of the century, unless he wasn't thrown into wizard jail for using an unauthorized time turner, or psychological health center for muggles, after telling his or her extravagant tale of travelling back in time. **

**It wasn't until she distant shouts or the cold gust of air which nearly stole her breath, which made Hermione understand that they had finally arrived at their destination. Hermione herself didn't think that it was possible for the know-it-all bookworm to be so captivated in the game of Quidditch. **

**The distance shouts were getting closer and closer, until curiosity overtook both Sirius and Hermione, and she finally struggled out of Sirius' grasp and jogged towards the noises. They were coming from the pitch, since the two were already almost there, and they were in fact coming from the center of the field. **

**One figure was completely recognizable: tall, lean, messy black hair and a poise of an arrogant twat. The other was not that much familiar. Hermione was sure she was the boy somewhere along in the halls, but it wasn't as if she knew him face-to-face. He was also tall and in perfect shape. He was wind-swept black hair and quite handsome too. As she could see from the back, at least. **

**Just as Hermione approached them, still yawning and running her fingers through her messy chocolate hair, trying to smooth it over, the boy turned around. He had a perfect winning smile, perfect-sized nose, and stunning midnight blue eyes. If it was possible, his smiled widened, but he kept concentrated on James who was blabbering out something. **

**"What's the problem, James?" Hermione sighed audibly, while leaning on one foot. James didn't seem to be in the best mood, or so she decided, since he snapped to look t her and gave her a look which tried to lower her in intelligence, but she stood her ground against it, staring right back at the messy-haired teenager.**

**"White. You come at the best moment I can count on you to come." He grit his teeth. Hermione significantly raised her eyebrows in question, as her fellow Gryffindor continued ranting on. "You're not even properly dressed or in proper uniform." **

**"I don't even know if I made the team or not, first of all." She snorted, receiving another pathetic look from James. **

**"I posted the roster on the bulletin board earlier this week, White. I would think that you would know, knowing you have such exceptional organizational skills." He continued taunting her, as Hermione threw him an aggravated look. **

**Right before they were able to argue again, the boy spoke up. He had a deep, smooth voice, which sent shivers down Hermione's spine. "Come on, Potter, let her breathe." He grinned, as James snapped back to him. Hermione rolled her eyes in aggravation, as she understood the boy's task was to simply distract James. **

**"So what happened, James?" Hermione finally asked, taking a look around as some students all dressed in Quidditch robes started pouring out onto the field. Half of them seemed to be wearing Gryffindor robes while the others were wearing Ravenclaw ones. **

**Suddenly a gear moved in her brain, and Hermione finally remembered where she knew the boy from. He was in her classes, a fair few in that case. She noticed him a couple of times with his Ravenclaw friends, as it seemed he was quite popular and handsome. **

**"The problem is," a grunt escaped James' lips, but the grin on the Ravenclaw boy's face did not wash off, "For some reason, we both have practice booked for the same day. It seems Madam Hooch had made an error with the schedule or something on the basis of that, but we cannot play with two teams on the field."**

**"Why not?" Hermione questioned further, as James sighed outwardly, which seemed quite arrogant, but Hermione had already lived through Draco Malfoy in her age, so there was nothing she couldn't handle. **

**"Because, _White_," James ranted on, "We have some secrets we can't share, and since Ravenclaw is the second team we're facing, that would be completely insensible of us to do so."**

**"That's quite true…" Hermione admitted openly, catching the eye of the captain, which caused her to grin suddenly. "But as you said, Potter, we just formed our team. What sort of secrets are there to hide? Or do you really want to get into a fight because of this."**

**She couldn't help but be proud of herself for outsmarting James, but it was nothing unusual for her, since she spent most of her life in the library t any case. The look on both of the captains' faces were incredibly stupendous, one in a good way, whilst the other in a horrified way. **

**The Ravenclaw captain suddenly nodded in support, coughing slightly as he laughed. "I don't think my team would mind. This would be practically our first practice after the try-outs." He admitted, as a twinkle in his eye suggested both his love for Quidditch, but yearn for something new and exciting. **

**From the look of him, he didn't seem like the type of captain Hermione would classify Oliver Wood or James as. James and Oliver were obsessed with everything about Quidditch and the goal of their lives was to figure out how to win a game. The captain wasn't like Harry either. Harry was slightly shy but serious. This was the sort of captain who would pat their players on their back, timidly and calmly telling them what they did wrong and how to improve the game. **

**"Go change into your uniform, White." James threw her a look, as Hermione rolled her eyes and turned around. **

**"Already off the field, captain." **

**On her way to the change rooms, Hermione saw Ginny walking towards the field, and promised that they could talk some time. **

**After taking a horrified look at herself in the mirror and realizing that her hair was a mess, and stuck up in every direction, Hermione simply tied it into a ponytail, took out her neat pile of clothes out of her locker and threw them on. Near the exit she grabbed her gloves and broomstick, and headed out to the field. **

**When she finally saw the green grass and a big chunk on familiar people on the team, she sped towards them. It was evident that James (though sorrowfully) had come to an agreement from the way her captain huffed from a distance. As she turned around, she saw the Ravenclaw team standing in a circle and probably discussing strategies. **

**"Things Ravenclaws do…" Hermione muttered to herself, knowing that it would be the same approach she would have taken if she was captain. **

**As she joined the circle, Hermione looked around to see who was standing there. Many of them were familiar faces and there were only a couple she didn't know. **

**"Now that our last member has finally made it, without tripping and dying in the locker room," James started, clapping his hands together, receiving a chuckle out of everyone and a smack from Hermione, "We can get to work. Congratulations to all of you. As it is probably obvious this is our team. So we have a sub in every position. I will name your positions, whether you're permanent or sub." James started checking his pockets and took out a handful of papers, many of which were strategies, game plans, scores and summaries, and a… Charms essay, which flew onto the ground with him noticing. **

**Hermione curiously picked it up and shoved it in her own pocket. **

**Ginny nudged Hermione in the ribs, slightly painfully, but fully earning the other girl's attention. "He's worse than Wood." She grinned, as Hermione did too, nodding slightly. Although Hermione was never on the team, she had to deal with the complaints from all of her friends, the constant groaning from morning practices, bruises and long annoying diagrams. **

**"How did you know Wood?" a boy with curly brown hair and green eyes asked them from the side. Hermione was slightly lost in the question, since they knew the Woods from Hogwarts in the nineties. **

**"He was family friend of ours." Hermione gave a tight-lipped family, as the boy nodded approvingly and smiled cheerfully to them.**

**"I'm Elijah Brooke." He extended his hand, as Hermione smiled brightly at him and extended her own. **

**"Hermione White." She complied. **

**"Ginny Evergreen." Ginny stuck out her own, grinning slightly. **

**"Pleasure." He greeted them both. He seemed like quite a pleasant guy. He was tall, and resembled Remus in some ways – pretty cuddly and cute, minus the multiple animal afflicted scars. Just as he opened his mouth to say something else, James interrupted them. **

**"Our three starting chasers are Logan Bell, Hermione White, and myself." He read out first, as Logan Bell, who was standing across from Hermione flashed her a cheeky grin and a wink, which she returned. Everyone gave each other warm smiles and silent congratulations. "We will have two subs, since nothing bad has happened to our chasers lately. We will have… John Summers and Shania Rainer." **

**Hermione looked around and noticed the shy looking third or fourth year, with tanned skin, as if he had just come back from a trip to the South. He had short gold hair, dyed with some brown streaks matching his bright chocolate eyes. He seemed like quite a closed person, especially since he was so young, which earned him a warm smile from Hermione, making him blush. **

**The girl, Shania Rainer, looked around fifth year and had dark brown eyes and long brown hair, which fell in dreadlocks down her back, complementing her dark skin. **

**"The starting beaters will be Sirius Black and Remus Lupin." James continued reading out, though his expression was completely serious and no unjust decision was there. **

**Sirius' hand immediately went to his hair, as he started flexing and pushing his robes up to show his muscles. Many, easily distracted by Sirius, didn't quite notice Remus, but the poor werewolf looked awful. He was extremely pale and looked quite peaky, though it seems as if he was trying to keep himself together. **

**As Hermione observed him further, she noticed that he was leaning on his broomstick and his eyes were portraying complete fatigue. **

**After the attention was off of them and James proceeded with the list, Hermione saw Sirius lean over to his friend and question, "Mate, maybe you wanna go to the Hospital Wing? You look quite peaky." He admitted, but Remus just shook his head at the comment and there was once again complete silence. **

**"For our two substitute beaters we have fifth years Matthew and Jason Stiller. Jason and Matthew. I'm not sure which is which, so we'll have to deal with that for now." James chuckled slightly, as everyone looked from side to side, until their eyes were dropped on the twins with light brown hair.**

**They both had grins on their faces, both were tall and fit, and quite reminded Hermione the Weasley twins. It seemed that they reminded Ginny of her brothers as well, or so Hermione judged from the sad smile on her face. **

**"You can call us Matt—"**

**"—and Jay."**

**"Any can work,"**

**"If you try to make it work." They both grinned from ear to ear, as everyone gave out a hearty chuckle. **

**"Or we can call you One and Two." Someone out of the crowd suggested heartily, and everyone grinned. **

**Even James cracked a smile. "Moving on. Our seeker will be Ginny Evergreen, and I haven't quite decided on the sub yet. If anything I think that one of the chasers will be able to take over." He stated firmly and moved down the list. "And as our keeper we have Elijah Brooke," James pointed over to Elijah, who was standing beside Hermione, "And our sub Jamie Hartnell." He pointed over to the blond girl who was standing next to John Summers, and it seemed they were getting along, since they both looked the same age. **

**"As for the drills, we will be practicing at first and then we will play against the Ravenclaws, or so it was decided." James finished, snapping his binder and rubbing his hands together. "Mount your brooms," he shouted out. "First do laps around the pitch and I'll stop you for further instructions." **

**After numerous warm ups, target practices, exercises and mini scrimmages, the Gryffindors played a game against the Ravenclaws. It was small and fun, although James considered a real match, as if it were the gold medal game in the upper league and encouraged his players to play rougher, or else he threatened them with extra morning practice. **

Later that day, after eating a ton of breakfast, which included all the boys shoving food into their mouth (and by all the boys, Hermione meant James and Sirius), Remus suddenly disappeared. Hermione assumed that it was to the Hospital Wing, especially since he was looking extremely green during that practice.

Hermione felt in the mood to embarrass James, so she took out his Charms essay from his pocket, on which "I love Lily Evans" was written, and gave it to Lily. The redhead blushed, but quickly concealing it with a snort and a roll of her eyes, throwing the paper at James.

There was still quite some time left until the first lesson, so Hermione, knowing the Professor Lupin of her time, grabbed some chocolate off the table and slipped it into the pocket, waving to Ginny, Luna and Lily, grabbing her bag and slipping out into the corridor.

She walked up the staircases and turned into the direction of the Hospital Wing. The hall was quite deserted with the occasional individual wandering around. A noise was heard around the corner, which didn't surprise Hermione at first, but at the last moment when she was about to turn, her blood ran cold.

"Are you sure there isn't any chance of getting it?" She heard one voice say. Although it was not quite familiar, she was smart enough to know that it belonged to her Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

"I—I don't think so. It's top ministry secret, Tom. I've only heard rumours about it." The stuttering voice of Professor Slughorn sounded out, as Hermione melted closer to the wall and moved behind the tapestry as the footsteps headed in her direction.

There was a long pause, and she was not fully convinced about what had happened, but waited nonetheless. Right when she was about to leave, she heard voices right outside the tapestry. "Are you sure Poppy doesn't know anything about it?" Daslor asked again.

"That, m'boy, you'll have to ask her." Her potions professor muttered. "Are you having a rough time without it?"

"It's like it's always been. Just slightly complicating my life. I'll have to leave Dufftown this evening then. It was nice talking to you, professor." Daslor said and Hermione heard footsteps heading in both directions.

After a couple of moment, she slipped out from behind the tapestry and made her way to the Hostpital Wing, with her head full of thoughts. What did Daslor and Slughorn mean? Was it some kind of treasure or potion? It didn't make any sense. Why was the handsome professor in need of something so valuable? What was threatening him, which was causing him to 'suffer'?

There were some possibilities and theories which were drilling holes in Hermione's brain, but she couldn't be completely sure that they were right. In no time, she was already at the doors of the Hospital Wing, which she pushed open.

Madam Pomfrey was skittering around with a serving tray, and looked at the door. "Yes, dear? Anything you'd like?" She asked her, although it wasn't in the most pleasant of tones. She seemed more ticked than happy, which was probably the result of working with students and mending their bones, muscles or minds.

"I'd just like to visit a friend." Hermione uttered out, giving the sweetest sugarcoated smile she could give. The nurse looked at her, pursing her lips with a disapproving look upon her face. She considered for quite a while and then sighed.

"Who are you looking for?"

"Remus Lupin. I'm a friend of his." Hermione specified, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

The nurse considered again and then stated firmly. "Only for ten minutes. Then off to your classes. He's in the first bed." A groan sounded from behind one of the curtains, and Madam Pomfrey uttered "Oh dear," and was gone once again. Hermione made her way to the first bed and opened the curtains.

There was poor Remus, looking extremely sickly, with his eyes partially closed, but is seemed like the sight of Hermione already made him feel better.

"Hey." He said, giving a weak smile.

"Hey." Hermione returned the gesture, sitting down on the chair beside him. There was an assortment of medicines and juices stacked up on his bedside tables, but Hermione kept her attention on Remus. "Oh," she gasped, remembering about the chocolate in her pocket. "It's for you." She handed him it, as the werewolf's eyes lit in surprise and shock.

Remus grinned, taking the chocolate and putting in his mouth, closing his eyes in bliss. "How'd you know?" He asked her sheepishly, wiping chocolate off his lips and smacking them tastefully.

"Lucky guess?" Hermione feigned a thoughtful face. At first, Remus' thoughtful gaze rested upon Hermione, as he examined her carefully, but luckily for the witch he let it go. "Are you alright then?" She asked him again.

A weak smile answered her question. "Madam Pomfrey told me that there's some kind of infection going around England right now, since it's already the beginning of the season, and it seems that I've caught on whatever it is." He claimed sorrowfully. "But I think I'll be out again tomorrow or the day after."

"You shouldn't have gone to Quidditch today, then." Hermione suggested helpfully, but her friend shook his head.

"I couldn't just not go; it was the first practice of the season. James would've murdered me if I didn't go." Remus explained. "_Even though I would probably have a higher possibility of doing that…_" he added in his own mind.

Hermione played around with Remus' bed sheets, and was trying to think of something to say. "Hopefully you won't be sick for long. I won't be able to survive any classes without you." Hermione groaned, throwing her head back and receiving a chuckle from her friend. "James and Lily, Sirius and his gals, Peter and his stupid questions, oh please come back, Remus."

"You won't believe it. Every time I'm—ahem—sick, James and Sirius are the ones who have to get my notes for me, or else I practically choke them afterwards." Remus explained.

Suddenly an idea came to mind. "I'll get your notes for you!"

"Hermione it's—"

"No actually!" The witch exclaimed cheerfully, finally finding some use of herself. Lately she had been feeling miserably useless, especially since they hadn't even started the horcrux hunt. "I'll get you all the notes for your classes. That way you won't have to kill yourself trying to read James' and Sirius' notes, which are probably all filled with doodles." Hermione laughed giddily.

Remus snorted, "Thanks, Hermione, that's great news! And about the doodles, I always get my papers back with 'JP+LE' or 'I 3 LE', which makes everyone around me look at me as if I am some kind of raging lunatic-matchmaker or fan girl."

"Hmm," Hermione mock-thought, stroking her chin, "I believe I'd like to see that side of Remus Lupin; the undercover fan girl. You probably have posters of everyone you fan about in your room, don't you." She suggested cheekily, making Remus bark out in laughter.

"The yet to be discovered side of Remus Lupin." Remus said thoughtfully.

"Ms. White, your time is up. Mr. Lupin needs his rest and his Pepper-Up potion." Madam Pomfrey rushed into the enclosed area, shooing Hermione away. "Off to class now!" She exclaimed hurriedly, "You don't want to be late for your classes now, do you?"

"Of course not, Madam Pomfrey." Hermione said in her perfect prefect voice.

"Now that's a good girl. Come on." The medi-witch basically wheeled Hermione out of the Hospital Wing.

"Bye, Remus!" she shouted before leaving the Hospital Wing.

"Bye, Mione." Remus sighed, as the witch's footsteps finally died down and he shrunk into his bed sheets.

He was caught in deep thought when Madam Pomfrey once again rushed in to give him his dose of Pepper-Up. "There you go, Mr. Lupin. Will Mr. Potter and Mr. Black be visiting you any time at all?" she asked him, as he sighed.

"Most likely. They'll probably come in with some crazy entrance, which will disturb everyone."

"Those boys. Always up to no good, and always disturbing those who are in need of rest." Madam Pomfrey shook her head and ran out, muttering something under her breath.

Of course, as much as James and Sirius caused trouble around the castle, Remus was happy to have them around. If it wasn't for them, he'd probably be dead inside. They were the ones who always saved him. They stayed together and shared the biggest secrets no one else in the school could know about.

Remus felt disgusted with himself. He was one of those people who wanted to do something good for the world, but there was one thing stopping them. In his case, it was his sickness. That horrifying sickness, which drove the whole world crazy and scared children during the night. Some called it a myth, but it was true. Whether you wanted it or not, you would acquire a werewolf acquaintance or have an encounter with a werewolf.

The scariest thing was that Remus couldn't control himself. It was like he was stuck in one of those video games, which were rigged and as much as you tried to control it, it would only work one way. But this was still different. Remus knew he was a killer. He was a machine that would not stop and that would only have it his way.

Even during the times he was in his normal human state, the wolfish genes still ran in his blood. It was living inside of him, but during the day it was asleep. The wolf controlled Remus, even at some times during the day. Once in his fifth or sixth year during a duel he didn't control himself and he could feel these negative feelings growing inside of him – anger, hatred. It drove him mad.

Everyone told him that it wasn't his fault, but it was. It was. At times, Remus would literally punch a hole it the wall because of his father's stupidity. That one action which changed his Remus' life forever.

And so Remus lay in the Hospital Wing the whole day, rethinking his whole life how he did every month.

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**And on that note, I give you chapter 13… *sob… I feel bad for Remus. And now you have it folks. Many topics covered. The seventh year Ravenclaws, Quidditch and Remus. Originally I wanted Hermione to be with the Ravenclaw captain, but I decided that I can have just as much fun with Mr. Logan Bell… Heh heh heh… So maybe for another fanfic. **

**Full moon next chapter :D**

**Leave a review please, if that isn't too much ;) **

**Thanks so much! Love you all!**

**Until next time**

**GirlxMarauder**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any characters developed by Mrs. Rowling. I own some characters… Just them, my laptop, my imagination and I…**

**Thanks to all my lovely reviewers, you're all brilliant and I appreciate each and every one of you: **** .96780****, ****loves2readalways****, ****TS17isme****, ****SincerelyYourSecret****, ****erythra-selena****, ****Esin of Sardis****, ****casper22****.**

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"**Soon it will all be over, buried with our past, we used to play outside when we were young, and full of life and full of love." (Little Talks, Of Monsters and Men)**

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Chapter 14

The three girls were throwing anxious looks around the whole day, because they all knew what was coming – the first full moon of the year, and each was more excited than the next. They would be able to wander around the grounds in their animagus forms, and at the same time see the communication and the interaction of the Marauders, which would be pretty sweet.

Hermione noticed that the three leftover boys were jittery that day too. They weren't paying attention in class, as always, but there was something about each movement they made, which made them seem more aware of their surroundings. The Marauders also seemed much quieter that day. James didn't embarrass Lily ten times in the Great Hall, and did the honour of minimizing it down to three, which, as Lily explained to Hermione during Herbology, meant that it was going to be a good and James-less day for her.

At the same time, Hermione and Sirius stayed clear of each other, especially since whenever they were together, it added oil to the fire of massive rumours going around the school. Everyone thought that Hermione and Sirius were secretly dating, since Alphard Black sent her such an open letter, making their whole friendship seem extremely suspicious.

Right when Hermione was packing from her last class, D.A.D.A., of which they had two full periods of, someone approached her, as she felt his presence. She spun on her heel, only to see Sirius leaning on her chair.

"Hey, Sirius." She greeted him plainly, as she grabbed her bag.

"Mione." He greeted back, and Hermione started walking away, drawing him into the raging and blood-thirsty crowd. "You're coming tonight then?"

These couple of words drew blood from her face. What did he mean? Did he know that she was an animagus? Was it some sort of sexual innuendo? She noticed by the looks given to them around her that people were already assuming, as the chatter arose in the halls once again.

"For detention." He cleared his throat, clarifying with the witch, and she almost wanted to mentally slap herself for not remembering. She completely blanked out at the question, as he looked at her with concern. "From seven to nine? With that prat Diggory?"

There was a loss of words. "I'll be there." She answered meekly, giving him a light but tense smile. He grinned at her, as they headed together towards the Great Hall.

They walked towards the Great Hall, and Hermione had some nudging feeling inside of her that she needed to ask Sirius something. The feeling came back to her and the thought struck her as lightning strikes electricity. She whirled around and exclaimed.

"Sirius, wha—oh…" she sunk away, slightly embarrassed to notice that the dark haired Marauder was nowhere to be found. That was one of those moments, when she just wanted to shrink away into a hole, since she was in the most crowded hallways of rowdy students. Now all she had to do was eat lunch, and prepare to tell Luna and Ginny that she would be running late.

Students were rushing around all around her, and flooding the whole place as quickly as a tsunami comes upon a tiny island. Each teen was more eager to go eat dinner and catch up on their sleep or Quidditch, which would probably be a preference, since it had been more than extremely humid for a supposedly autumn day, since there were clouds weighing down the earth. It didn't seem like they were heavy, just sad… Sad as a certain Marauder probably was.

Hermione wondered at what time the moon would rise and hit the light of the poor Marauder, but the moon was deceiving and unreliable. The same way it changed it cycle, the moon always came out on that certain day. It was a curse, and it seemed like the moon was prone to laughing about the unfortunate lycans.

Finally she entered the Great Hall to find all her friends in place. Luna was sitting with Ginny in their usual spots, Lily across from them, but the Marauders were further down the table. Strange… Their heads were bent down in concentration, as if they were working on a prank. It seemed weird, when she walked through the hall; she got multiple death glares from girls, and sad smiles from boys.

Her eyes narrowed at this, as she sat down beside Lily.

"Hello, ladies." She greeted them thoughtfully, picking up her fork and starting tapping it against the table. Lily gave her a confused smile, as Ginny shook her head and went back to her mashed potatoes.

"Hermione." Luna gave her an airy smile, as she started balancing a drumstick on the palm of her hand. "How is your new romance with Sirius Black heading? In the right direction I hope?" She asked calmly, as Hermione sputtered out the mouthful of Pumpkin Juice she gulped.

"_Excuse me?_" Hermione barely managed, hitting herself against her chest and coughing out pumpkin juice.

Lily was looking down either in embarrassment or was trying not to laugh, Ginny was on the brink of laughing, while Luna still looked at her as if nothing was wrong. "It was written in the sky, you know." She stated as if it was the most normal statement anyone could say.

It seemed like everyone around them was watching them, as Hermione's face morphed into shock. "Excuse me? I am _not_ dating Sirius. I wouldn't ever want to go out with that prick in my life!" she exclaimed incredulously, getting a couple of chuckles and happy exhales from some Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff males.

"If you don't believe me, you can ask Professor Trelawney. I think she'd be able to tell whether it was written in the sky or not." Luna continued, this time putting her fork on the back of her hand, throwing it up and catching it.

And then Hermione realized what was wrong and Luna wasn't being sarcastic or loony at all. Literally there was a message written on the ceiling of the great hall in big bold red letters. Hermione had to bite the inside of her cheek and clutch her hands in fists so that she wouldn't shout out in cussing and wouldn't smack Sirius right across the face.

When she looked at him, he was already intently staring at her and gave her a flirtatious smile when he caught her eye. After that, Hermione looked at the Head's table, which seemed very awkward. Dumbledore was smiling wittily and was looking from Hermione to Sirius, McGonagall was looking down at her food in disgust, whilst all the other teachers were chattering cheerfully. Gossip. Teacher gossip was the worst.

Hermione looked around her to find Ginny innocently reading a paper, and by 'innocently' she was trying to hide her smile. Luna was staring right at Hermione with a dreamy expression on her face. When Hermione turned her gaze to Lily, she received only a look of pure understanding, as she propped her hand on her elbow, and as Hermione guessed the poor girl already went through many of those types of experiences.

"You know what they want, Hermione." Lily gave her a stern, but mischievous look, nodding her head up at the sky. Hermione looked over to where the Marauders were sitting, as they were looking at the girls expectantly. Her gaze shifted back to Lily, whose gaze didn't leave her. "Don't give them what they want. They just want a show."

"**Blimey, just do it Hermione. You know what they want, even Evans knows.**" Gryffindor's voice suddenly found its way into her head. "**Just give them a little surprise, which will throw them back. Show them who they shouldn't mess with.**" Hermione grinned, for she could basically hear the smirk on her father's face. "**Oh… And by the was, Salazar wishes you luck, and to, quote-on-quote, kick their Gryffindor arses.**" This made Hermione almost burst into laughter, but she nodded and proceeded.

It seemed as if Luna and Ginny felt Hermione's internal excitement, because they were all getting slightly jittery. Even since the animagus blood exchange, they could feel each other's emotions and pains.

Giving the girls a sly look, Hermione looked at the ceiling, which was happily displaying. "_Sirius Black and Hermione White's soon-to-be wedding! Don't miss it on November 27__th__ at the Three Broomsticks!"_ She inaudibly conjured a spell and waved her wand, while leaning over and pretending to look for something in her bag.

When she was back up, she gave her three friends a sly look and a wink. Right at that moment she decided to get to work. She got up and leisurely strolled towards the three Marauders. Sirius' grin widened when she approached him and leaned against the table. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement, which probably knocked Sirius even more off, and James was also starting to get suspicious, since his mouth was slightly agape. He felt that something wasn't right, but Sirius didn't take any notice in it, and just continued smirking wolfishly.

"I'd like to congratulate you, Sirius." She smiled happily, as she felt the focus of the whole room on her. "To be engaged to such a beautiful person and in such a romantic place too, it warms my heart." She continued cheekily towards him, as he raised his eyebrows.

"Well, love, you're simply fabulous, that's all I have to say." He winked at her cheekily and continued with a totally innocent face. "You're the thing that makes my day and makes me chew up all my quills in Charms, Transfiguration and occasionally History of Magic. As well as write beautiful poetically romantic poems on my D.A.D.A. notes."

"Me?" Hermione changed her expression to a more or less confused one, and raised her eyebrows a tad. "Sirius, you know, it's not right to flirt with other when you're about to get married to such a spectacular person." she shook her brown mane, which just silkily fell across her shoulders.

At that moment, Hermione saw James look to the ceiling, as his jaw dropped a couple of feet. Everyone followed his gaze and chatter erupted immediately. Right at that moment, the doors to the Great Hall opened, and Amos Diggory strutted in. Hermione turned around and couldn't help but thank whoever helped for such great timing.

"Ah, there's your bride-to-be…" Hermione giggled, giving Sirius a wink. "I'll be happy to join the ceremony."

Sirius' silvery gaze tore itself from Hermione, as he looked up to where his previous message what cruelly rearranged. Instead of saying "_Sirius Black and Hermione White's soon-to-be wedding! Don't miss it on November 27__th__ at the Three Broomsticks!_", it was now rearranged to, "_Sirius Black and Amos Diggory's soon-to-be wedding! Don't miss it on November 27__th__ at Madam Puddifoot's!_".

At first, Hermione didn't understand what emotion she pulled out of Sirius. He was surprised, disgusted, and astonished, and as he looked back at her, the young witch was already gliding back to her seat. Plopping down, she shared identical marauder-worth grins with her friends and high-fived each one of them.

Just at that moment, Hermione followed Diggory's line of view, as he looked up at the sky and his face morphed into pure and awful mortification. "BLACK! DETENTION!" he shrieked, and strutted out of the room, as the Hall erupted in "ooo's" and laughed followed. Sirius looked pretty mortified and was still in shock, not ready to recollect himself.

Even McGonagall seemed to ease up a notch. Their Head of House caught Hermione's eye and nodded delicately with a strict smile on her face. She approved. Hermione's cheeks twitched from smiling so much. Dumbledore was smiling even more than he had been before. Wolf-whistles and cat-calls followed, as cheeky comments erupted from the crowd.

"Oi, Diggory, what's your dress look like!" someone shouted after the retreating Hufflepuff.

"When did you propose, Sirius?"

"Am I invited?"

"That's incredulously romantic, that is. Madam Puddifoot's, eh, Black?"

"I like your taste!"

"Work it!"

The comments got shouted out continuously, until Sirius stood up and took a bow, but leaving the crowd with whispers and guesses of who changed the sentence, and who were soon to be the new Marauders.

Hermione knew he was staring at her, but instead of looking back, decided to engage in a conversation with Lily about the Arithmancy assignment they were given. Right when she saw Sirius getting up and grumpily approaching her, she flew from her seat and out of the hall.

Remembering that she hadn't informed Ginny or Luna about her detention, she quickly went up to the owlery to use a school owl, which hopefully wouldn't be recognized. She quickly grabbed a quill, which was ruddy awful, since it was on public use, and had tacks and gum stuck to it, the eagle feather worn and dirty. Nonetheless, she scribbled a quick note on the parchment and gave it to the tawny owl.

_Loony and Reddie,_

_I got detention with the Golden Boy's twat of a father, I'll meet you are 9:05 in the CR for our little animalistic expedition._

_~Moonpaw_

For the rest of the day, she hid out in the Astronomy corridors. Everyone knew Hermione loved books and always camped out in the library, so for a change, the witch decided to find some other place to stay.

When Hermione checked the time on the muggle watch she was wearing that day, it was already ten minutes to seven, and she had to get to the library for her stupid idiotical detention with that prat Diggory. She snapped her book about vampires closed, and headed towards the library with what seemed like a cloud of anger hovering above her head.

By the time she got to the library, she weaved around some people who were both walking in and out. As soon as she got in, she found Amos Diggory standing and waiting for her.

"I'll escort you to your detention spot. Madam Pince will be checking on you two a few times, because I have to go to some extremely confidential Prefect duties, which cannot be attended by anyone else, since no one else is capable of doing anything right." Diggory puffed his chest out, an unkind sneer crossing his face, as Hermione regarded him with an unimpressed smile.

"I hope you understand that I was not going anything against the rules that day." Hermione adjusted her books, so that they wouldn't slip out, and followed Diggory into the depth of the library.

"Of course you were, I caught you on the act. You were helping Black set up a prank." He answered her, not even turning around, as Hermione scoffed incredulously.

"Excuse me!" she exclaimed outrageously, waving an arm above her head. "Do I look like someone who would cause mischief, might I ask?"

Diggory scoffed and stopped, looking her over, completely unimpressed. "Of course you do."

With that, he led her to a table, at which Sirius was already sitting and doing his work. It was by the window, with a good look out to Hagrid's Hut. Hermione wrinkled her nose, before sitting two seats away from Sirius and slammed her books onto the table.

"You two will serve detention until nine o' clock. Madam Pince will check up on you a couple of times and if there will be any mischief going on, you both will serve another detention when I am present." He shot daggers at them, as Hermione completely ignored him and started reading her book.

There was a long silence between the two, but Hermione wasn't at all in the mood to talk to Sirius. She was excited, yes, but she felt as if Sirius would only annoy her even more.

"I hate Diggory." She heard him mutter, as he coughed, obviously trying to draw her attention to him. She glanced steadily at her watch: not even one minute had passed and she was bored as anything, as she continued reading her book.

Suddenly, realization had come upon her. She was serving _detention_. What was with her? The normal Hermione never served detention, never even wanted anything to do with it. Furthermore, not only was she serving detention for speaking out in class, but for being suspected for setting up a prank with Sirius Black. Sirius Black. One of the four Marauders. And bloody handsome too.

"What are you reading?" He asked her suddenly, moving a seat closer to Hermione, which was less than comfortable to her.

Without raising her eyes she answered him. "Nothing interesting enough for your brain to process."

_Siberian Vampires (also known as ice demons) inhabit the northern shores of Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway. These types of vampires are incredibly appealing to the human eye. Common characteristics are porcelain skin, unnaturally coloured eyes, fit body structure, and—_

"Vampires, huh?" Hermione felt warm breath tickle the skin on her neck. "Do vampires appeal you?"

Hermione sharply turned around, her curls bouncing as she faced Sirius, who, at that moment, was lounging on the chair's two back legs. His eyes were closed, but a smile was playing across his handsome face.

Snapping out of the small trace she had just fallen into, Hermione snapped at Sirius. "What do you want, Sirius?" she asked exasperatedly. "Isn't there someone else you can go annoy, like Peter or James?"

"I could always go annoy Peter, but he always takes everything too seriously." Sirius said thoughtfully, letting his chair hit the floor with all four legs. "If you tell him to go to the kitchens and bring a butcher knife and butterbeer, he'd do it." Sirius added on. "James is a bloody wanker. If you get on his bad side, you'll wake up with cockroaches in your bed." He shivered slightly, as Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Maybe you should annoy him more, so you do wake up with cockroaches down your pants and will leave me alone for a while?" Hermione said angrily, giving Sirius a cold glare, to which he answered with a grin.

"Ah but you wouldn't be able to restrain yourself, love." He said lovingly. "You want me, admit it."

"Someone with a fat head like yours?" Hermione asked dubiously and mockingly. "Not likely."

"I want an apology, love." Sirius said quite seriously, pulling Hermione into shock.

"For what?"

"For embarrassing me today."

"Oh, don't be such a Malfoy. Your aristocratic stuck-up no good features are showing up. You were the one who tried to embarrass me!" Hermione's annoyance started building up once again and she was sure that it was going to blast soon. At that moment, she looked out the window and saw Madam Pomfrey escorting Remus down the stairs. At that moment, beside her, she felt that Sirius saw them too because he gingerly stammered and started to continue their conversation attempting to distract her from the window.

"You just reacted badly to it." The teenage boy said calmly, crossing his arms over his chest, but the flicking Hermione in the head, who exclaimed "OW!" out loud. "So you owe me an apology. You almost ruined my reputation with the female species in this school. All my clients thought that I wasn't straight anymore."

Hermione straightened up and let out a puff. "That would be better if you weren't straight, then you could possibly leave me alone. And besides," Hermione added playfully, if you were planning our wedding you could've made it in a church or at some location of historical significance. At a pub, Sirius?" she asked sourly. "Really?"

Sirius chortled with laughter before nearly falling off the chair, which was roughly shoved by Hermione. "So that's what you were worried about? The location? Love, for you I could make our wedding on the other side of the ocean, or in Siberia or Australia." He cried dramatically, making Hermione snort. After all, it was better to spend two hours talking, than sitting around staring out the window.

"You're funny" she stated sarcastically, shaking her head.

"It's true, love. You don't even understand what you're refusing. Living with me, such a devilishly handsome young man… I would've thought that no girl would be able to resist it." he bent his head regrettably, shaking it.

"But you forgot something, Mr. Black." Hermione cooed and batted her eyelashes. "I am no typical young witch."

At some point it was true. Not at some, but in all the direction of her life, she had never been a typical anything. She loved to read, while other girls loved to party, she hated sports when she was a kid, while everyone else attacked it in a crazy mania, she preferred not to use makeup until the war was over, and still preferred not to use it on a typical day, she was probably one of the youngest time travelers in history, along with Luna and Ginny.

Sirius shook his head smartly. "That's a good point."

Hermione sat, flipping the pages of her book, absentmindedly and twirling a strand of her hair between her fingers. Just to see how loyal Sirius was, she decided to keep urging him on.

"What do you have after this?" She asked him suddenly, as Sirius' neck snapped over to look at the young witch, who gave him an intelligent and inquiring look.

"What do you mean?" He asked, slightly confused, although the witch knew that he knew exactly what she was talking about.

She gave him an apprehending look, and asked. "Remember when we were given detention? You said that you had something planned that evening and it interfered with detention. What was it?"

"Look, Hermione," Sirius said quite bitterly, which hit Hermione, who wasn't prepared for such a firm answer, "We may seem daft, but a Marauder doesn't give away his secrets that easily." He bit at her, as Hermione frowned slightly and was meekly taken aback and stuck her nose into her book once again.

"Hermione?" Sirius nudged her from the side. "Are you okay?"

At that moment, much to Hermione's aid, Madam Pince scuttled into the room and shuffled around, looking at what Hermione and Sirius were reading or studying.

"Are you the pair of misfits Mr. Diggory told me I had to keep under my eye?" She whispered hoarsely, not to 'disturb' the peace of the library.

Hermione and Sirius nodded, as she stalked away, keeping an eagle-eye on the two of them.

Throughout the whole time, Sirius kept trying to talk to Hermione, but she didn't give in. Madam Pince checked on them two or three more times, glaring and stalking around the library, but Hermione engrossed herself in the vampire book, whilst casually daydreaming of her own things. By the end, she didn't even hear Sirius' voice taunting her.

She checked her watch once again, and it was five more minutes until they were supposed to leave. It seemed like Diggory, being the twat he was, put some sort of warding spell, so that Hermione and Sirius weren't able to leave until the time came, since Sirius tried to leave at some point and simply got thrown back into a bookshelf, dragging out a laugh from Hermione and a shriek from Madam Pince.

It was dark outside already, and it seemed as if the moon were to come out at any second, if not for the heavy clouds weighing the earth down. The witch looked down at her book once again, trying to waste the last minutes of misery in the library.

Usually, the library was a place for relaxation, and Hermione enjoyed being in it, but at that moment it felt like some sort of imprisonment. She moved her line of vision towards Sirius, who was once again balancing his stool on the two back legs with his head thrown back in irritation. Not only was he being kept from his friend, but was confined in a room with a frustrating female.

Once again, she glanced at her watch, and realized only one minute was left. She dug into her book, reading a section under the heading of _"Vampires in England"_.

_There is a large clan of Vampires in England. Although many of us may not realize, vampires inhabit every city in England. Although some live in deserted warehouses or abandoned buildings, there are some who live pretending to be muggles, though it is hard for them to control their bloodlust. Particularly, the largest vampire clan in England is located—_

"Hermione." She heard her voice being called, as she immediately unglued herself from her book and jumped up, to see Sirius standing at the exit of the library, gesturing the way out.

Not even bothering to thank him or say another world, Hermione flew past Sirius and ran towards the Common Room, as he stared after her completely clueless. There was something wrong with him, and this girl was driving him nuts.

Hermione ran through the hall, up some stairs, and by the time she got to the Common Room, she was literally out of breath. She muttered the password to the Fat Lady and bolted in, where Luna and Ginny were already awaiting her. They were lounging on the couches, quite worried, from their expressions, and they quickly got up, smiles lighting up their faces when they saw their friend.

"Mione, what happened? Did the nargles get you? Or were there brounies crawling up your ears. Funny little creatures they are. Daddy told me that he had a family of brounies that lived in my old dollhouse. Apparently they were funny and friendly, and ate only porridge and honey. I think I remember one or two. I think our owl ate them all one day though." She sighed sorrowfully, as Hermione laughed lightly.

"No, Luna I wasn't stolen or harassed—"

"Or abused? I hope you weren't, you know how some Slytherins in the castle are." Ginny sniffled sharply, crossing her arms over her chest. "Some of them still try to sexually harass me in a corner when no one's looking." The redhead shivered lightly. "So, anyways, before Luna drawled on about magical creatures, what happened to you?"

Hermione looked around self-consciously and gave them a suppressed look. "Later," she muttered, gesturing out the door, as they nodded.

They hadn't been this excited for a long time! Finally, they could run as fast as they could, or could set themselves free, releasing any inhibitions. They all jogged excitedly down towards one of the entrance halls, which would help them head outside. It was most likely that the Transfiguration hall was the safest and one of the most deserted spots in the school during the evening, and so the girls ran towards there.

By the time they reached the Transfiguration wing of the school, they were walking, since they were already tired out of their wits, and wanted to save some energy for their animagus forms. Luna turned the corner, and immediately attacked Hermione and Ginny to the wall, clasping her hands on their mouths.

Hermione was completely shocked at first, for she underestimated the hazy girl's strength and the attack was completely unexpected, drawing a big pain in Hermione's shoulder. Luna's wide eyes indicated that they should move in deeper behind a torch and right at that moment a strict voice was heard. "What are you doing out in the halls this late?!"

The three girls caught their breath and froze as the voice of Professor McGonagall came up right next to them. Hermione was about to leap out and offer her apologies to the Head of their house, but with a slight movement, Luna pushed her even more into the wall and mouthed "_What are you doing!_"

Immediately, Hermione wanted to slap herself. Down the hall there were three girls wandering about and giggling, as if drunk. "McKiddie! Williamson! Lowsley!" she shouted at the three girls, who stopped in their spots and straightened up.

"Yes, Professor McGonagall?" The one with wavy brown hair with blond streaks asked smoothly. Even from far away, they didn't seem like a pleasant trio.

"I will escort you back to the Ravenclaw dormitories." Professor McGonagall stated firmly, speeding towards the three girls, who rolled their eyes at the professor, quite visibly. So these were the seventh years Lily mentioned… Hermione wondered what exactly they were like. She had a few classes with them, but they just sat in the back not going anything.

"I don't think that's necessary, Professor. We can get there by ourselves." A tall blond with icy blue eyes spoke out, as McGonagall looked straight at them.

"I will escort you there, to make sure that you won't be making any detours, McKiddie, not for my own pleasure." Professor McGonagall snapped, while Hermione internally cheered for her favourite professor. "Now walk."

As soon as the sound of footsteps faded, Hermione and the girls slipped out of the shadow and out the door, which was practically just in front of them.

"That was close." Hermione exhaled loudly, while feeling the autumn breeze caress her face and blow through her hair. She felt free, but the escapade they just made was slightly frightening.

"Too close." Ginny nodded in agreement, as the three of them raced towards the Whomping Willow. So there were teachers patrolling the school at night. Hermione thought that it was only prefects, or the Head Boy and Girl.

They ran through the deserted courtyard, and in no time were standing outside the Whomping Willow. The moon was not yet shining through, so they decided to take a chance and sneak into the shrieking shack, just to be there when it all happened. Hermione was the only one who ever saw a transformation, and she found it terrifying. From being a simply innocent man, her professor had turnt into a complete… monster.

A tremendously eerie echo filled the air, which both pumped the girls with adrenaline, while simultaneously sending shivers up their backs. It was a mix of animal noises, rustling of leaves, wind and some unknown ones coming out of the Forbidden Forest. A sharp high-pitched cry sounded out from the forest, and all the girls immediately spun around and whipped their wands out at the same time.

They exchanged looks and carefully put their wands away. The Whomping Willow was still immobilized, so they took the chance of going in as fast as they could. It seemed that either Sirius or James had just entered a couple minutes before them.

They trudged through the tunnel, which was completely made of dark, moist walls and an unknown darkness ahead of them. Hermione had been there twice, and none of the occasions were particularly pleasant. She felt extremely jittery, and her muscles felt tense and tight, not willing to succumb to any pleasant sensations.

A sudden croak sounded out from behind her, and Hermione once again turned around, just to see an apologetic-looking Ginny nearly slipping on a rock.

"Sorry…" she muttered, as Hermione turned around and walked forward, wand at the ready and knees bent. "This place gives me the creeps. Honestly, couldn't we just wait outside?" the redhead asked cautiously.

"I think it's quite intriguing though." Luna interrupted equally quietly, but instead her voice was filled with wonder and curiosity, as if she was trying to solve a question about the alternate universe of pegasi. "I haven't felt this excited or jittery since the Department of Mysteries. Now that was adrenaline-filled"

"Shhh!" Hermione shushed them, as she suddenly heard voices overtop of them, since they had just entered through the entrance doorframe. She leaned against doorframe and closed her eyes in concentration, trying to observe and absorb the sounds coming from overhead of them. It sounded like James.

"You alright, mate?" he said in a worried tone, as no answer came.

Luna gestured to Hermione if she wanted to go further up. Ginny looked extremely anxious, but Hermione decided that it wouldn't hurt if they went up one more level.

After conquering a set of squeaky stairs, whilst grabbing onto the old moldy railing in effort not to fall or give their position away, the three girls ended up standing somewhere underneath the four boys. From their angle, after shifting awkwardly, Hermione, Ginny and Luna could finally see the boys.

Remus was sitting on an old, tattered loveseat, James was pacing from wall to wall, Peter was sitting on the ground, and though Hermione did not see Sirius, she assumed that he was doing something that only Sirius would do – like lounging on the couch, or lying on a bed after extracting all the dust from it. Hermione sighed and shook her head. One word - purebloods.

"Moony!" They heard the shaky squeaky voice of Peter, who sounded extremely nervous, after he leaped off the ground. Even Sirius got up and joined the picture, and James stopped moving. The three girls held their breath. The events were extremely suspenseful. The whole building dropped ten degrees in temperature.

Restlessly, Hermione took a look out the musty dirty window, which faced towards the Forbidden Forest. A single moonbeam fell onto the shadow of the dark forest, giving it a strange glow. More and more beams joined it and suddenly the heavy clouds pushed apart to reveal the pale yellowish moon.

A fatalistic, horrific sounding scream sounded out from above them, the sound itself making the impression of a crystal mirror breaking into the shards. Ginny looked extremely nervous and worried at the same time. Quickly and quietly, they moved towards the staircase to see Remus Lupin transforming and growing in size. It was ghastly to watch, especially seeing the amount of pain their friend was in. There was no Wolfsbane potion to reduce the pain.

The tall, now towering figure ripped out of its clothes and continued growing, bony spine and ribs showing. Although he was standing with his back to them, the girls got the image of what it looked like from the front, and how much sadness his friends were in at that moment. Hair visibly grew on him, and he lifted his head in agony, screaming, as his face elongated into a furry snout and out of his back erupted a furry tufted tail.

All of the sudden the screams and yells turned into a long and loud howl. Hermione looked at her two friends, worriedly, hinting to them with facial expressions that it's time to go, and they all nodded. Hermione took one last glance upstairs, especially since a somewhat eerie silence was in place, except for a rough grunting pant, which stopped her heart. Her skin crawled. Lifting her eyes to the top of the stairs, she saw a pair of bewildered yellowy-green eyes staring right at her. He was coming for them.

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**Hmmm, seems like a good place to leave off (; Oh how I love cliffhangers. **

**Thanks so much for reading, a greatly appreciate it, and I hope you liked this chapter! **

**For those who might've not noticed, I rewrote some parts of chapter one, just cleaned up some minor things. Oh, and I changed my pen name to "GirlxMarauder" from "Girl . x . Marauder", because whenever I tried to post something, it did some funky thing, leaving out half of my pen name. **

**If it's not too much to ask for, please leave a review, because that will make me really happy :33**

**Thank you once again, you're just the best!xx**

**GirlxMarauder**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my plotline. Unfortunately, sad, but true. **

**Hello, fellow authors and friends (: Thank you for reading my last chapter. Special thanks to my dearest reviewers: ****lovinxoxo****, ****SincerelyYourSecret****, **** .96780****, ****LadyRainDancer****, ****casper22****, ****hummingpetal****, ****TS17isme****, ****Wallart plus Flinx equals war****, ****EggyBee****, Guest, ****loves2readalways****, ****Esin of Sardis****, ****Fullofpassion09****, and ****Maridee****. You guys are ****truly great. I have no clue what I would do without you! Xxxx**

**Enjoy this next chapter (:**

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"**Cradle me, I'll cradle you... I'll win your heart with a woop-a-woo. Pulling shapes just for your eyes so with toothpaste kisses and lines I'll be yours and you'll be mine..." (Toothpaste Kisses, The Maccabees)**

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**Chapter 15**

"NOW!" she whisper-shouted, as the three of them darted away. Right as they started their run, they heard a jumble of footsteps and loud howls and yelps behind them. They didn't bother looking back, since they would most likely get eaten. This was a dangerous game they were playing: it was both terrifying and exciting.

The normal Hermione in the 90s wouldn't have gone into the Shrieking Shack in the first place, but now her heart and head were focused on the run. It was some animalistic instinct that rose inside of her since the moment they left the castle.

She was the last one running, and soon enough the exit and pale moonbeams were seen from the small exit of the Whomping Willow. Howls and barks were heard from behind them, getting closer and closer; so close, she could basically feel the hot werewolf breath on her neck. Hermione squinted, darting quicker out from underneath the Whomping Willow, anticipating her jump as much as she could.

Ginny and Luna, who were in front of her were nowhere in sight, but instead, there were two beautiful creatures before her – a Pegasus and a beautifully coloured red fox. In mid jump, Hermione managed to transform into her animagus, since she felt that it would be nearly impossible to avoid a bite if she were land on the ground in her human form. She was certain that once in animagus form, the bite would not turn her.

At that moment everything stalled in slow motion. A tickling sensation started from her toes, warming her blood and making her heart pump faster and faster. Her muscles started to define themselves and she felt her clumsiness turning into accurateness. At that moment, her eyes changed. All the objects around her were so obscure and blurry for a single moment, until suddenly, she felt her eyes sharpen and glow.

She was abruptly accustomed to the darkness, as small details and snaps caught her eyes – a rabbit hopping by the Black Lake, a shadow of a student in the window of a room, a small turf of grass in the air from her jump. A strange popping feeling went through her ears, and a small pain into her nose. She smelt autumn leaves, an uncanny wolfish presence behind her, roses, herbs, pine trees, a wet dog… She wrinkled her nose unconsciously and before she knew it, she landed on the ground and immediately darted to the side.

The werewolf clumsily tumbled onto the ground, releasing an aggravated howl and a violent-sounding grunt, as he turned around to face the three creatures standing before him. He backed up slightly, then stretched his neck out and let out a long and sad howl.

Just then, out of the corner of her eye, Moonpaw saw something twitch just to realize it was a rat running on the ground towards the wolf. She turned around and eye the two emerging animal forms – a big black dog and a glorious-looking stag. Involuntarily, either out of sheer excitement or adrenaline, Moonpaw let out a loud bark.

The black dog froze, glancing towards Moonpaw, which aggravated her. Was Padfoot judging her? Or what was wrong? Once again, she let out another bark. Padfoot's eyes twitched to Moonpaw's right, where her two companions were standing.

The deviously red fox was settled on the ground, grooming herself, as the Pegasus was pawing at the ground. Though Hermione couldn't control her emotions, Padfoot seemed like an extremely handsome dog. His fur was sleek and black, glistening in the moonlight, and his fathomless silver eyes were breathtaking. Although he was a dog, Moonpaw could sense a suggestive invisible smirk on his face.

The stag neared them, and Moonpaw observed that she had a rat sitting on his antler. He tilted his head, observing the strange company of the night. A Pegasus, pale but as beautiful as the moon, with long silky feathers, and a playful expression; a fox, quite fond of its fur, although with a mischievous and sneaky gleam in her eye; and a beautiful rough collie, with various white dapples over her fur, an intelligent expression and surprising blue eyes. (**this will be explained by the end of the chapter…**)

They were being studied by the animals, but Moonpaw felt a rough grunt behind her, followed by small sound of anxiety, but excitement beside her. She looked at the red fox, which was suggestively looking towards the forest, and then to something standing behind Moonpaw, apparently nearing, yet with her new animalistic reflexes, Hermione felt the blow coming and dodged it just in time, before the werewolf could strike her.

At that moment, the three animals darted into the forbidden forest. It felt so comfortable: she could see everything happening around her, but at the same time it was all so distracting – a phenomenal vibrant blur of colours passed Hermione as she continued running and taking in the aroma of the forest.

Suddenly she stopped. There was no one around her, and no place to hide. Moonpaw had a feeling something was going to happen in a matter of seconds, or so her ears could hear it. Just as she suspected the next moment, a fatal cry sounded from around her, which she recognized as the same one they heard while entering the Whomping Willow. She cocked her head and looked up the tree with her extremely powerful eyes. A human being wouldn't be able to see any of the this, but sitting over her head, a dozen meters to the sky was a frilly blue bird.

The bird cocked its head and looked at the dog standing below her. The dog let out an involuntary bark and the bird shrieked and all of the sudden it was gone. Moonpaw looked around with a perplexed expression on her face. Why didn't the bird want to play? Suddenly the human side of her kicked in and mentally slapped herself.

"_Stop thinking like a dog, doggamit!" _She scolded herself, without realizing the mistake she made, but understood there was no way to deal with it and sighed. Her legs quivered and she had a jolting adrenaline feeling, but stayed intact, trying to collect her human thoughts together, when a loud bark sounded out and before she knew it, she was pinned to the ground.

Aggressively, she bared her teeth at the stranger who dared attack her. That's what she got for thinking like a human at times of transformation. On top of her was a big bear-like dog, which was looking down at her. If it was a human, it would be smirking an arrogan—Sirius. The though struck Hermione like thunderbolt, as the dog looked down at her amusedly.

She growled and pushed the dog over, lamely snapping at the dog and heading into the opposite direction. What she didn't expect next was so be roughly pulled by the tail back until she stumbled over a tree root and fell to the ground. That proud son of a bitch was burning her with his glance again.

She realized that he wouldn't leave her alone. She snarled at him, although playfully, and looked around. She saw Lunefeather cocking her head and then flapping her wings and soaring into the sky, then she saw Reddie smirk and disappear behind a pair of bushes.

Before she could control herself or even start off with a plan, she was running deeper and deeper into the forest, dodging trees, jumping over roots and logs, and laughing to herself. She heard a hard playful panting not far behind her and realized Padfoot was still chasing her. A large opening between two trees expanded, on the diagonal of which there was a partially fallen pine tree, ready to crumple at any minute.

Moonpaw smirked, and sped up, as she felt Padfoot gaining up on her. It was a matter of precision and time that she jumped over the fallen tree, kicking it with her two strong back legs and pushing off as hard as she could. As she hoped, the impact was successful, as the tree rusted beneath her and fell down, blocking the way for the other dog animagus.

She turned around, slightly worried, but at the same time curious. A couple minutes passed and there was a small ruffling as well as a groan coming from behind the ruin of logs. Moonpaw looked strangely over in regards to the noise and carefully made her way around the trees towards the sound.

There, amidst the rubble was Sirius. He has sitting and rubbing his back, shaking his head, like a dog who just fell into a bucket of water. It took him a couple of minutes to notice Moonpaw, who was inquiringly staring at him. He threw her a dirty look and got up, dusting himself off.

"What do you want?" He growled at her, scratching his head, making his hair fall all over his face, as Moonpaw jumped towards him barking lightly, only sending him back, and plugging his ears.

"Congratulation, what do you want a bone or something?" Sirius gave her a smug look turning around and beginning to walk away, but Moonpaw didn't want him to leave, so she took the back of his robes and pulled him backwards, a gurgling playful growl coming from her throat.

"Whose are you anyway?" Sirius looked slightly irritated, but grabbed Moonpaw by the collar, checking for a leash, but found none. "Hm… Strange…" he thought, as he started scratching her behind the ear.

Being a dog at that moment, Moonpaw couldn't help to resist enjoying the feeling of someone scratching her sensitive spot, which happened to be her ear. She whined in satisfaction and leaned against Sirius, who chuckled and started petting her.

"You're a beautiful dog." He muttered, continuing to scratch her behind the ear. "You really remind me of someone…" Sirius added on thoughtfully, giving her a slow look of consideration, but quickly drawing away, as Moonpaw sighed in relief. "Except your eyes… Your eyes are a unique shade of blue."

At that moment, she jumped away, and barked at Sirius, who raised an eyebrow. She ran in a circle and looked at him once again. Then she ran and after a light chuckle, she saw Sirius transform into Padfoot again and the chase began.

That was how they spent the whole night. She didn't know how far they ran. It seemed like they passed various muggle cities, but their energy was everlasting. She felt like she ran a thousand kilometers, and in the end, it could've been possible. By the end, Moonpaw ended up in front of the Whomping Willow, after finally losing Padfoot along the way there. She sat down and waited. She was tired and needed to rest, her human characteristics finally casting on. Another wolf howl came from the edge of the forest, as Moonpaw got up in surprise.

There were a couple of shadows running out from the tall grass, the first one being a fox, at which Moonpaw grinned, and then a wolf. Following ran out a stag, with a rat on his antlers, which was getting chased by a Pegasus. The stag didn't seem impressed at all, on the contrary slightly annoyed. Moonpaw smiled as she watched the scene. She was slightly uninterested, until she saw the fox pulling on the werewolf's tail and immediately jumping back.

Moonpaw's stomach emptied for a second. Something was wrong. The werewolf growled and turned away, mulling over to the stag, but the fox once again grabbed his tail, and a heart stopping moment occurred. The werewolf turned around, grabbing the fox by the stomach with its teeth and violently tossed it again a nearby tree.

Reddie looked lifeless. She was lying by the roots of the tree as the werewolf approached her, preparing to strike. Moonpaw, looked around hurriedly and darted in front of the fox, and ripping at the werewolf. She snarled and pushed the werewolf onto its stomach and biting it on the shoulder. Animal instincts were running rampart through her, and she couldn't control anything she was doing. She kept going at him, until he got up and starting fighting her.

Already gaining the advantage of size, the werewolf tossed the collie further back and headed towards its midnight snack, but the collie climbed back up and jumped onto the werewolf's back, knocking the wind out of his chest. She clawed at the struggling wolf, who was just about to jump back up, when Moonpaw got knocked back from a blow to her stomach. Two piercing antlers were shoving her backwards, leaving evident marks and light bleeding spots.

At that moment, Lunefeather, who had wandered off when the fight started, was in front of both the werewolf and the stag, and the beautiful Pegasus was aggressively standing on its back two legs, violently beating its winds to protect her friends. While everyone was distracted, and Moonpaw was shaken up from the ground, she saw two glowing silvery eyes peering from between the grass.

It was a matter of seconds before the animal was about to leap at Lunefeather, when Moonpaw bounced into the bushes pinning the dog to the ground. It was Padfoot again, as she growled at him, on purpose this time, though it wasn't voluntarily. The collie turned her head to see Reddie slowly transforming back into Ginny. As if reading her thoughts, Lunefeather trotted over and sat down next to the poor girl, who looked like she was in a brutal state, and put her wings over her.

Shoving the black dog aside, Moonpaw pounced on the werewolf only to find herself pinning down a struggling Remus Lupin. The moon was gone, and morning was coming soon. At that moment, once again, she felt antlers jab into her ribs and felt herself flying through the air and hitting the hard cold ground, and a high pitched whimper escaped her. When she looked over, two boys supporting a third were leading him into the Shrieking Shack, as a fourth followed behind.

Moonpaw struggled to get back up and cursed under her breath. Quickly she transformed back into her human form, vision and senses dulling quickly. She stumbled over her own feet, not being used to being on firm ground. She was hurting all over, but that pain was not important at that moment. She wrapped the silky smooth white scarf around her neck, which was left after her transformation and limped over to her friends.

She fell down to her knees. "Ginny!" She whisper-shouted, grabbing her friend by the shoulders and shaking her.

"Hermione, stop!" Luna hushed her, pushing her away, which made the brunette stumble back and fall on her butt. "You're hurting her!" she blond glared at Hermione, who was trying to find herself and put herself together.

The brunette sighed, and walked over, sitting down next to Ginny, putting a hand on her forehead. Her case seemed bad – she was breathing shallowly. Hermione let her hand fall from her forehead and rested on her stomach. Luna measured their friend's pulse and looked over to Hermione.

"Did you see what happened?" She asked extremely seriously, as Hermione felt a pang of annoyance bounce through her, although she felt ashamed of it.

"Yeah, I—"

"Hermione, stop, you're bleeding!" Luna gasped, narrowing her eyes and taking her arm into her hand. Hermione looked over to her arm, which was all bloody.

"But I don't feel anything…" She muttered under her breathe, observing her own blood, until realization taunted her. "Luna, it's not my blood!" she exclaimed suddenly, as their eyes connected and they both spun around to face Ginny, who was grunting slowly. The teenagers started observing the ginger's body, until Hermione finally came across a dark spot on the stomach of her robes.

"Luna, quick!" she called out nervously, tearing Ginny's robes apart, to expose her stomach, which was torn apart, wet with warm sticky blood. At the age of twelve Hermione couldn't stand to see even a mosquito bite, on her friend nonetheless, but soon after she learned how to treat, but the pain of others still brought pain upon her as well. "Can you make a diagnosis?"

"I don't know, Hermione, we'll need to go to the Room of Requirement first." Luna shook her head, unconfidently. "Help me pick her up."

In the darkness of the night, carefully trying not to stumble across anyone or anything, the blond and brunette, both covered in blood, not being able to differentiate whether it was their own or each others' dragged the bleeding redhead to the Room of Requirement.

After narrowly avoiding Filch, they finally dragged Ginny in, lying her down on a hospital bed, which was arranged in the middle of the room. Luna was the best with potions and herbs, hence there was a whole healer's tent set up.

"Luna, why can't you just sew her up?" Hermione inquired, leaning over the table, observing Ginny's wound, rather hurriedly, nervously glancing up at her other friend.

"I've tried, it hasn't worked!" Luna answered, with equal nervousness. "I'll wash her a bit and tie her up, so we'll see what we can do from there." She added, suddenly gripping her stomach, which made her double over the hospital bed. At that same moment, Hermione did the same.

"What's happening?" she exclaimed nervously, as her eyes started darkening and vision blackening. She couldn't control herself, and tolerate the pain she was in. It was deep in her stomach. She took one glance at Luna, who was bending over with her eyes shut, in the same state as Hermione. Hermione closed her eyes once again, breathing in and out fully.

"Luna," she gasped suddenly, "we have to find a remedy! We're feeling it too!" She gave a suggestive glance towards Luna, while containing a howl of pain.

"Our blood…" she nodded, wincing, and got to work. Hermione stumbled over to the bookshelves, which immediately reappeared.

"_Remedies of the Fifteenth Century_,_ Sacrificial Bonfires_,_ Tips and Tricks to Gardening Illegal Plants,_" Hermione continued searching, moving through the spines quickly, gripping and supporting herself with her other hand. "_The Sacred Plant for Experienced Witches and Wizards, Animals Bites and Wounds... ANIMAL BITES AND WOUNDS!_" Hermione exclaimed, in quick relief, but winced at the same time, as she managed to pull the book out of its place on the wall.

She moved towards the couch and searched through the index… Werewolves. She found it. She scanned through all the subtitles, looking for the right one. There was each except for the one they needed – "werewolf bites and humans", "werewolf bites when human", "werewolf bites on animals"… and that was it.

Frantically looking around, the pain in her stomach increasing, Hermione looked at Luna, who was anxiously looking at the witch. The anger in Hermione built up, until she couldn't take it anymore and threw the book onto the couch, as it bounced and flew open to a random page. Hermione shielded her face and looked down at the book sorrowfully, one picture catching her eye.

It was a hand drawn picture of a werewolf and an animal. Underneath was a small caption in tiny letters, which said, _"When bitten in animagus form, the wounds are healable by solely herbs. If not treated possibly, an infection may start and wolfish characteristics may evolve. Treat with a concoction of fireflower juice, bad spleens, milkweed and dried nettles. Turn to page 476 for full recipe." _

"Luna!" Hermione called over in humongous relief, as she basically flew on wings of luck towards her friend, who grabbed the book from her.

"I'll have this ready in a few minutes." Luna noted to herself, and started rambling and collecting her ingredients. "You!" she pointed at Hermione, who started reading from the potions book herself. "Keep pressure on her wound. Since we can't fix it with magic, she needs not to lose any blood."

Hermione nodded and walked over to Ginny who was lying lifelessly on the bed. Her face was pale, with blood smeared on her cheeks, her body limp and not moving. Hermione couldn't stand that sight. She never liked having any of the Weasley children in danger – she felt like they were her responsibility, although Molly often scolded her for it.

She was so lost in her thoughts; she barely heard a lifeless cough escape the redhead's lips. Her eyes started to flutter open, as her sky blue eyes bored into Hermione. "Ow…" was all that she could mutter, and Hermione gave her a tight lipped smile.

"Relax, Ginny, keep calm."

"Am I—"

"Ginny! Healer Hermione said not to move, that means not to move." Luna's voice was heard from across the room and Hermione let out a light chuckle, ending it with a light whine because of her stomach. Ginny winced at the same time. It was nice to see that even Luna had a sense of humour during a time of pain.

Before she knew it, Luna was at Hermione's side, treating Ginny's wounds. It felt like hours and probably did take hours because by the end Hermione could barely stay on her feet. Luna gave Ginny a sleeping potion and on their eyes the wound started to close by itself.

"We're all going to feel discomfort, and Ginny has to drink the potion for a week to get rid of the infection completely." Luna stated, stifling a yawn, but something caught her eye. "Although there is something strange to it: her ribs seem bruised, but I don't remember anything happening to it. Whenever it touched her, she would moan in pain. I don't know why."

Luna looked extremely lost and confused, until Hermione also recognized the pain, and touched her ribs tenderly, which started to hurt even more.

"I suggest you go take a shower." Luna stated calmly, gesturing for Hermione to go, when a door appeared on the wall.

"You too." Hermione nodded. "Since we're going to class today… In a couple of hours."

Luna just nodded and they went into the washroom, stripping off their clothes. Hermione pinned up her hair and climbed into the shower and let the hot water soak her to the bones, nourishing her with the pleasant warmth. Using a sponge to rub soap over her body, Hermione started from the neck down, but when she got to her ribs she gasped. On each side, three or four of her ribs were bruised and her skin seemed to be turning blue.

Alarmed, she finished her shower and put on a pair of clean robes. When she exited the bath, Luna was already sitting on the couch, watching Ginny.

"Luna," Hermione whispered, as the blond turned around curiously. Her friend looked fresh and was probably out of her serious mode by that time, since there wasn't much to worry about anymore. "I found out the cause of the rib pain." She stated awkwardly, as Luna nodded for her to continue.

Sighing, Hermione lifted up her robes and showed her bruised ribs, and winced in pain. Luna immediately got up and understood that her work wasn't done, but there was nothing major to do for the case. She handed Hermione a glowing blue potion, which tasted like a sickly sour mixture of lemon and lime. After downing it, Hermione made an incredulously sick expression and stuck out her tongue in disgust.

The taste was finally out of her mouth, when Luna announced, "I think I gave you the wrong potion. I gave you Ginny's potion, but that's okay, because we can suffer together." she smiled dottily, as Hermione's eyes popped out in disbelief. "This is the one." The blond handed her another vile, which was a suspiciously abnormal vibrant orange colour and Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure it's this one?"

"Positive." Luna said with a small smile on her face. Hermione looked at her suspiciously, but nonetheless downed the potion, which tasted like sickly sweet licorice.

"That's disgusting!" Hermione gawked, opening her mouth and trying to clean her tongue of the substance. "Do you purposely make these potions such an intolerable taste?" Hermione asked, gasping for breath.

"If only." Luna sighed, but curiously looked into the air, as if staring into space. "They say the wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter." She mimicked Ollivander, which brought a smile upon Hermione's face, but a tinge of sadness as well. "Imagine if the potion chose the wizard. And you could make it taste whatever you wanted it to taste like? I would try all the flavours! That's why I love _Bertie Bott's_! You don't know what you'll get."

Hermione chuckled at her friend's theories and plopped down on the couch beside her. To make things worse, it was not only the day after the full moon, but a Wednesday too, meaning it was the middle of the week. She groaned, throwing her head back. Hopefully, James would've been reasonable and charitable and didn't schedule any practices.

Suddenly realizing that keeping Ginny in the Room of Requirement wouldn't help anyone's case, the two girls decided to help their friend, along with the potions to be transported to the Common Room.

"Come on, Ginny." Hermione groaned, while trying to lift her sleeping friend, who only mumbled something completely incoherent in return. "Come on!" she continued muttering, managing to only get half of Ginny's body off the table.

Taking around five minutes in duration, Hermione was finally at the exit of the Room of Requirement, with a sleeping Ginny draped over her shoulder. Although the weight of her friend was what Hermione was focusing on, she couldn't help but notice an odd fact about the whole situation – she was trying to carry her friend over alone.

Disbelievingly dropping Ginny to the floor, who landed with a hard thud and whispered something nasty through her dream, Hermione looked around the room and saw Luna on the other side, leaning amusedly against the wall.

She glared skeptically at her friend, who remained standing on the other side of the room with a smirk curving up her lips. "What are you looking up at me like that for?" Hermione growled at her friend, whose smirk widened even more.

"Hermione, do you remember what the Room of Requirement does?" Luna asked, as Hermione nodded her head in pure abomination.

"Yes, of course I do. The Room of Requirement allows to user to use the room in any physical function they need to use it in." She said smartly, quickly recalling her fifth year when Neville first discovered the Room of Requirement.

"And the room contains anything the user desires." Luna added on smartly, twirling her wand in her hand, as Hermione cockily placed her hands on her hips and stared at her friend.

"I know that, what difference does it make?" She snapped quickly, as Luna chuckled.

"Remember when you came for the Battle of Hogwarts, we told you that when more and more girls started coming in, more showers go developed?" she asked, hinting on something obvious, and giving Hermione the snarkiest look ever created, at which she huffed but nodded. "And the passageway to Hogsmeade too." Luna added on dreamily. "It could give us anything, so why not use it while we can?"

Hermione gapped at her friend and wanted to hit herself extremely hard in the face. "The door! We can ask for a door to the Gryffindor Common Room." She groaned and looked down at her redhead friend exasperatedly. Luna continued to stare at her friend and finally sighed in embarrassment.

Picking herself up and shooting a glare at her friend again, Hermione snapped, "What?"

Luna shook her head, though a smile was evident on her face. "Are you a witch or not?" She mimicked Ron's words from a couple of years ago. "_Wingardium Leviosa!_" she exclaimed, making Ginny hover in the air. "_Accio!_" she continued firmly, as the redheaded girl, her hair falling to the ground like a silky tassels, floated over to Luna, who turned around and opened the door which developed right behind her.

"You alright, Mione?" She asked curiously, although there was no worry, only cheer in her voice, as though she was making fun. "Nargles finally get you? Or are you still thinking like a dog? You seemed very into Padfoot there. I noticed, yes I did. You looked like you were spiritually connected." She smiled one last time before opening the door and disappearing into it.

Hermione stared after her friend in disbelief, then shaking her head, she jogged over to the door, which was starting to vanish and disappeared in the darkness, as she muttered "spiritually connected" after herself.

By the time breakfast was to be served, Hermione and Luna had laid Ginny down in her bed, closed her curtains and had hidden the potions their friend needed to drink as a remedy. Hermione stood up from her bed and stretched, taking a look in the mirror, at which she abruptly took a step back.

Her face and hair and everything was a mess. Although the shower cleaned her body, her hair was still unwashed. Her face had random smears, and she had bags under her eyes, which were still blue.

"We're not doing that again…" Hermione stated firmly, continuing to observe her face in the mirror.

"What exactly."

"Watch Remus. I was just curious at first. I really just wanted to see them. I don't know what got me at that moment. Maybe it was dad's stuck-up curiosity gene that got me to go in there, but I don't know what was up."

"It's painful to watch." Luna agreed. "Even for me, and I never was too close to him. Agreed?"

"Mhmm…" Hermione nodded solemnly, sighing once again. "Luna, why do you think my eyes are still blue?" Hermione asked, walking towards the blond, who curiously peered into her friend's eyes, as they automatically switched topics.

Hermione scoffed as she saw so many ideas and theories swarm in Luna's eyes, as fantasies erupted and legends and stories came true. "Honestly?" She asked again, as she turned around and leaned over looking at herself in the mirror. "How long has it been since the time I transformed out of Moonpaw?"

"Four hours? Almost five, I think." Luna shrugged thoughtfully. "How long were you in that form?"

"I think around the same amount of time – possible six hours though." Hermione induced thoughtfully, and smiled as the insides of her eyes stared to gradually turn into her own chocolate brown eyes. "I think it's gonna take around half an hour to change back into their own colour. Why do they change anyway?" Hermione rambled, opening her eye slightly, to see any change in another part of her eye.

"I have my theories."

Hermione let out a ringing laugh. "Keep them to yourself for now."

Hermione's hair was a big knot of hair. Not willing to brush it out, Hermione went to rummage through Ginny's trunk, which was messily shoved under her bed.

"Listen, Hermione, when I said that about Sirius, I didn't really think you would go after him. If you really needed tips on how to get men, you wouldn't need them because half of the school is already gawking at you." Luna said calmly, bouncing on her bed and combing her hair, which looked and was as soft as silk.

"Oh, shut it, will you?" Hermione laughed, pulling out various magazines and trying to find the right one, which Ginny showed her back in the day. The spell she was looking for was probably yet to be invented in the future, so she had to fumble through the future editions.

"Or," Luna continued thoughtfully, only making Hermione roll her eyes in amusement, "You could always order _Witch Weekly_, although I think that the editions in 1977 aren't as good as 1987. I think they would only teach you how to gel your hair or use hairspray." She dragged on nonchalantly.

"Oh really?" Hermione commented to herself, barely even listening to what Lavender was talking about.

"As for the boys," Luna continued rambling, "I think that you would find equally as much information in either addition. Probably even more than in the future. Did you know that on average almost every Slytherin fifth year or over has slept with someone, and not necessarily from their own house." She asked innocently, as Hermione nearly fell over.

Throwing Luna a shocked look, Hermione shook her head in mock-discouragement and stated thoughtfully. "Do you know this through secondary sources or primary experiences?"

"I don't think primary experiences would be possible for me, because many of the Slytherins smell gross and look like chimpanzees. That's many of them; of course there are some exceptions." Luna added solicitously, shaking her head and starting to play with her hair.

Hermione smirked, "You know a lot about this for an ex-Ravenclaw and now Gryffindor." Laughter erupted from her throat, but then was concealed with a wince as she hit her head against the bottom of the bed. "OW! Care to justify?" her muffled voice came from under the bed as she continued searching.

"For example," Luna started, "admit it, Adrian Pucey wasn't that bad looking. So were some other older Slytherins. Malfoy even straightened out by the end of the war, and Slytherins are fantastic snoggers too…" Luna said dreamily, as Hermione pulled her head out from underneath the bed, triumphantly holding up a magazine and got up in front of the mirror.

"Oh that's nice…" Hermione mumbled, casting a spell on her hair, which fell into normal bouncy curls, and then her eyes, as the bags disappeared. Then she spun around, shell-shocked. "_What_ did you say?" She exclaimed in heavy surprise, as Luna looked up as if nothing in the world mattered.

"Some Slytherins are cute?"

"Some of them are, I agree. But, no, the other part." Hermione demanded.

"Oh, I snogged half of them."

"WHAT? When, Luna?"

"During Spin the Bottle. You didn't come, because you were studying, but it took place every other month in the Astronomy tower." The blond shrugged nonchalantly, making her wavy hair bounce up and down. "So many people came, even Harry and Ron one time, but that was the last time, after Ron had to kiss Goyle." Luna giggled lightly, as Hermione's jaw dropped.

She stood like that for a few minutes, opening and closing her mouth, not being able to decide whether to shut it or open it. "They went without me? Those bastards!" She exclaimed incredulously, but added with a laugh. "Ron snogging Goyle? That must've been a shock. Hmm…" she thought out-loud, "Now that I think about it, I do remember something like that going on…"

Luna nodded her head and gestured Hermione out the door. "Only after you." She smirked as they linked arms and headed down to the Great Hall.

While walking through the halls and down the stairs, the two girls received awkward and careful looks, but the two of them were already used to that from all the rumours – the mysterious murder of their parents, Luna being friends with a Slytherin, Hermione dating Sirius, their Defense Against the Dark Arts skills and incredible intelligence as well as wand work.

As the two of them walked into the Great Hall, Hermione looked around the room with her sharp eye. She suspected that it was still blue, from the detail she could see with it, which her normal eye couldn't capture, after being tortured with hours of books. The professors were all at the table, except for the charming Professor Daslor. Hermione frowned.

It seemed as if mail had not been delivered yet, and Hermione and Luna sat down in their usual spots, in front of Ginny and beside the Marauders.

"Morning." They greeted each other and started choosing their breakfast. Hermione and Luna had been absurdly famished, after their long playful games and extreme exercise. The boys looked exhausted, and it looked like they were both falling asleep and eating like all the food was going to disappear.

The silence or clattering forks and knives as well as unsophisticated munching was interrupted by Lily's kind voice. "Hermione, Luna, where's Ginny?"

Hermione didn't bother lifting her head up, as she decided to leave the work for her dearest midnight-blue eyed friend, who slowly and languorously lifted up her head, redirecting her sharp blue eyes to the redheaded girl.

"She's not feeling in shape today. Unfortunately." She smacked her lips solemnly, looking down at her food and then leaning over the table and 'whispered', "I think the Nargles are behind it." And then as if nothing happened she continued to much her buttered toast.

Hermione was aware that everyone in a two meter radius was staring at Hermione and Luna like they had just rode on a thestral into Hogwarts, carrying the portrait of Lucius Malfoy in their arms. Hermione grunted unpleasantly and shook her head at the people who didn't mind their own business.

"What's with your eyes, Mione?" she heard James' voice from infront of her, as she saw him attempting to wrap his arms around Lily, who looked awfully uncomfortable and truly annoyed. Her face was turning the shade of her hair.

"What's with my eyes?" she mimicked him as seriously as he said it.

He raised an eyebrow at her, as she raised two, redirecting her attention to her plate, which was in need of being devoured.

Understanding that James let go of the subject as soon as Lily smacked him on the back of his neck, Hermione finally relaxed, only to feel someone watching her. It was a disturbing tingling feeling crawling up her spine. It wasn't the cold shards of ice she received from jealous girls and not the warm intimate butterflies she got when boys stared at her.

She lifted her eyes to find Sirius observing her carefully. But not just her. He was looking straight into her eyes. His eyebrow quirked, as he opened his mouth to say something. Then Hermione remembered.

"_You're a beautiful dog." He muttered, continuing to scratch her behind the ear. "You really remind me of someone…" Sirius added on thoughtfully, giving her a slow look of consideration, but quickly drawing away, as Moonpaw sighed in relief. "Except your eyes… Your eyes are a unique shade of blue." _

Quickly remembering, she averted her eyes, letting her hair fall over her face, just to be over relieved to have Sirius get interrupted by Peter.

"Why do you have blood in your hair? Both of you?" he piped up from his seat, finally getting enough courage to say at least two words to the two pureblooded girls. This was probably the first time he had ever spoken to them.

Wanting to slap herself, Hermione remembered that when she took a shower, she didn't wash her hair, therefore probably leaving some of Ginny's blood, which was almost deliberately splashing directly at her two friends. Hermione was about to open her mouth, when Luna spoke up.

"Just a hobby." And with that she went back to her breakfast.

Hermione didn't know if she wanted to cry or die from laughter, but she contained herself, thinking of happy and sad thoughts, trying not to let the compressed laugh escape her throat. An awkward silence followed, as nobody spoke, which made the situation even more awkward.

Hermione looked from the corner of her eye, at Luna, who was containing herself, although there was a small smile playing on the corner of her lips.

A flapping of wings and hooting from the air interrupted all side thoughts and conversations, as the mail got delivered. Hermione glumly looked around at all the students receiving packages from their parents with letters and warm pleasant stuff. Luckily when they were in Diagon Alley, she ordered the Daily Prophet to be delivered to her.

A tawny post owl with a leather pouch tied to its leg with the _Daily Prophet_ in its claws, it hooted suggestively, as Hermione gave it one knut and some beacon, which was now an everyday habit for her.

All of the sudden, the room turned quiet and only the most eerie and bloodcurdling chatter was heard. It seemed as if the room dropped a couple of degrees. The teachers were all up and discussing something nervously. Hermione looked around and gasps erupted from each table. The room dimmed and a strange feeling ran rampart through Hermione.

Luna and Lily gasped simultaneously, as they peered over to the copy of the Daily Prophet, which Hermione was clutching in her hand.

Hermione caught her breath, and she felt a lump develop in her throat, and she swore her heart stopped. The heading of the front page read, "_Gruesome Werewolf Massacre in Dufftown._"

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**Sorry, it seems cruel to leave two cliff-hangers in a row, but it had to be done... **

**Now that you know all of the girls' animagi, what do you think about them? I think Luna deserved to have a magical creature, then I thought that a fox would really describe Ginny. No, it's not the red hair... Well maybe that too. **

**And Hermione, I was honestly trying to decide between a collie and a wildcat, but in the end I chose a collie. I remembered Lassie... Ah, that was a good book/movie. So I did some research and thank you to yahoo answers, "Lassie ****was always played by a male Rough Collie and was Sable colored. They are very intelligent dogs. Very loyal as well, and playful too." **

**Hence, I decided that. So. The cliffhanger. Yeah. Enjoy the next week (; Oh! And I have officially passed 100K words! Yayyy! *does some sort of dance...* Umm... Okay I'll sit down now. **

**Thank you everyone for reading, and if you have the chance review please: it would mean a great deal to me. You don't understand how it makes my day when I get emails on my phone during school and how excited I get. It honestly makes my day (: xxxx**

**Once again, thank you for your support!**

**GirlxMarauder**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the plotline and a few characters. **

**Hellooooo, fellow readers and authors. It's great to be back. I couldn't get my thoughts together this whole week and literally forced myself to sit down and write today, since it's Family Day, for any of you from Canada. :) Half of my family decided to go to Cuba, but honestly I'm not a fan of the heat. Hah. "fan" or the "heat"… If you get it :P **

**Also I can't do much since I went skiing, which was fine. Then I went skating and honestly my knees are swollen and skinned. Yeah, that's what happens when you don't skate for two years. Worst part – I have a volleyball all-day tournament tomorrow. It sucks. **

**Anyways, keeping away from my problems, I give you chapter 16 ;) I actually can't believe I've gotten this far. It's just breathtaking. **

**Thank you to my awesome readers and reviewers, especially: LadyRainDancer****, ****Esin of Sardis****, ****TS17isme****, ****casper22****, ****EggyBee****, **** .96780****, ****Mrs. Theodore Nott****, ****HisSecretLover18****, ****WitchOfDarkness13****, ****mekom****, ****LoonyLunaTheBAMFWhoLovesLlam as****, and ****LordNemesis****! You guys are the bomb!**

* * *

"**In the night the stormy night she'll close her eyes; In the night the stormy night away she'd fly, and dreams of para-para-paradise." (Paradise, Coldplay)**

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Chapter 16

Mortification spread across the room. Hogwarts was safe, or so everyone thought. Everyone always said that Hogwarts was the safest place in England for witches and wizards, but the massacre had happened not far from Hogwarts. It was a distance which made even the most confident wizards uncomfortable.

Hermione stared at the paper before her, not being able to process any of the things coming to her mind at that moment. Nervous, jittery chatter slipped out once in a while, but other than that, there was a wounded silence. With trembling hands, she lifted her eyes to the text.

_Gruesome Werewolf Massacre in Dufftown_

_It was not expected or predicted. In the dead of night on Tuesday September 27__th__, otherwise the early morning of Wednesday September 28__th__, under the pale moonlight, a particular branch of Dufftown was attacked. Dufftown is a Scottish burgh in Banffshire, which is both a wizard and muggle city, containing certain communities and areas particularly known for the dense population of witches and wizards. _

_Initially heard from shrieks and screams, the werewolves were discovered in the wizarding part of Dufftown, particularly in an area with a high demography of children. Witches and wizards prepared for battle. There were a total of three werewolves, none of which were under full control, except the leader. Two of them were taken under custody shortly after the attack; one escaped. _

_The first volley of attacks was in a wizard orphanage, leaving behind eight bitten children, as well as a deceased one, which couldn't survive from the numerous wounds inflicted. Shortly after the orphanage attack, the leader of the group was taken away, as their plan sidetracked, leaving them to break into a house and biting one reportedly adopted child. Aurors had already apparated and stopped the massacre from going any further, but to complicate the situation two confused werewolves remained, while their leader escaped. _

_After stunning the two followers, the Aurors followed the still-hot track of the werewolf leader, who seemed to have obvious control over himself, leading him to attack two muggle families, biting three muggle children. _

_Right when the Aurors were on top of the wolf, the moon hid and the werewolf disapparated without any trace of him, except the bitten children. Our professionals at the Ministry of Magic interrogated the two lycans, under the effect of the Veritaserum potion, and discovered that they knew not who their leader was, or who they were serving. All they knew was that they were taken and participated in a bloodbath. _

_While the identity of the leader remains anonymous, the two followers were brothers, the age of merely seventeen and eighteen, who were bitten solely a couple of cycles ago; therefore, clearly not being able to have any control over themselves. The two were orphans, and were bitten in Charlestown, which is not far from Dufftown. _

_There have been more than a few werewolf attacks in the area, which were all coincidentally in Scotland, many in close range to Dufftown. Is there a trend possibly leading somewhere? _

_The bitten children, both muggles and magical, have been taken into the Ministry of Magic, into an exceptional artery. Muggle parents have gotten their memories modified, whilst the witches and wizards have no choice but to live with a burden on their hearts. After a couple of months, they will be given the privilege to live with their children, with an exception of the days of the full moon._

_Who is this mass murderer and evil schemer? It is doubted that the leader is the mastermind behind the whole plan, and there are suspicions that he works for someone of a higher rank. No city is safe anymore. Dufftown, well-known for being located in range of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in mourning losses. Does this show future risk for the magical students of Hogwarts? _

Hermione was shell-shocked and so was everyone else. She stared bleakly at the page. She couldn't believe what she just read – Dufftown! That innocent city, which had been given such a harsh treatment all those years. There was no doubt that Voldemort was behind the whole scheme, but a werewolf attack? She couldn't help but shake from worry and shudder at the thought that it was someone she knew. Did Remus wander to Dufftown that night? He was with James, Peter, Ginny and Luna the whole time so it hopefully wasn't him.

The thought of the whole situation scared her completely. The teachers had all abruptly left, Hermione supposed to Dumbledore's office, to discuss the problem. There wouldn't be any doubt that children would be taken away from Hogwarts as soon as possible by extremely concerned parents. Already she saw a couple of students run out of the hall sobbing and covering their faces.

Overall, it was disturbing. The whole situation chilled her to the bones, but what hurt her most would be to see Remus' reaction. She glanced around her and noticed that all of the Marauders had vanished; Luna was looking under the table, while Lily had her hands entwined in her hair, holding herself on the table by using her elbows.

What would happen if the werewolves would get to Hogwarts? It would be a gruesome and skin-crawling sight, which Hermione didn't want to imagine. But it was well-played by the ministry. They wouldn't offer the protection they had – they were biased and wanted nothing but power, trying to demolish all magical creatures in their path.

Lily got up and rubbed her worried eyes. She glanced towards the door to which a third year Gryffindor ran and disappeared as quickly as she appeared. Right then, she got up and nodded to Hermione. "I'll get to the hospital, to er—talk to James." She said quite uncomfortably, but Hermione simply gave her a nod and the Head Girl left the table.

Right at the moment, Professor Sprout, entering through the main doors, went up to Lily and uttered something hoarsely, to which Lily nodded and together they walked out.

Luna and Hermione sat looking at each other. Luna was the first to speak. "It's horrible. Simply awful."

"I know…" Hermione muttered sadly.

"All those poor families. I can't believe their unfortunate fates." Luna sighed picking up her fork and continuing to work on her food.

"I know. I can't believe it. I didn't think that the action of the war would start so revoltingly." Hermione looked at her hands, which were as pale as snow.

"We're in the midst of a war, we can't forget that." Luna said, putting her fork down. "I'm not hungry anymore. I lost my appetite." Her fork clanged as it fell down and hit her plate.

Together the two girls headed to the Gryffindor Dormitories, where their redheaded Weasley lay on the bed staring at the ceiling, attempting to play with some blush.

"Hullo, Gin." Hermione uttered with a heavy weight on her head.

"Hermione. You've come to delight me with your presence!" Ginny exclaimed, opening her arms, then letting them fall on the bad and threw her head back. After no answer came from any of the girls, she lifted her head suspiciously. "Is there something on my face? Or on my bed? Or something I should be scared of?"

"Of course there is." Luna stated plainly. "Didn't you know that whatever you fear is always with you? Even if it's buried back in your subconscious and only comes out at night to taunt you? For those who are arachnophobic, ministry workers in the Department of Animal Safety have proven that there is a spider away from you maximum five meters away at all times." She finished, bouncing on the balls of her legs.

"It's not that though…" Hermione sighed.

"What is it then? You gals don't look so well. Maybe you should go to Madame Pomfrey?"

"Hey, I resent that, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." Hermione gave in a weak smile, as Luna rolled her eyes.

"Or I could always brew some sort of potion for you."

"Or that." Hermione agreed.

Ginny raised an eyebrow cautiously, a grin playing on her face. "So what happened then?"

Hermione handed her over her copy of the _Daily Prophet_ and exhaled sharply. "You can read, I assume?" She joked seriously, but her sentence sounded rough and lifeless, as Ginny took it without words and her eyes started scanning the page.

She looked up at Hermione with a confused expression, "Umm… You want me to read '_Mama's three best ways of preparing stir-fry chicken'_?" she let an amused expression haunt her, as Hermione furrowed her eyebrows and rolled her eyes, grabbing the newspaper out of Ginny's hands and flipping to the front page.

"Alright then, Ms. Sassy McSass." Ginny chuckled, shaking her head, as Luna let out a small grunt from the other side of the room, and Hermione couldn't help but let a smile tug at her face for a split second after realizing that Luna turned into Lunefeather and was grooming her feathers one by one.

She focused back on Ginny's whose expression was now mortified. Her pinkish face from before had vanished and now was extremely pale, making her freckles stand out even more. She emitted a low mumble of "Oh… My… Goodness…" When she was done reading, she looked at Hermione sorrowfully as Hermione returned the expression.

"How is Remus?" She asked worriedly and sadly, like a caring mother, or a really caring friend with a clear platonic interest, not a fake charismatic one.

"I don't know." Hermione sighed, shaking her head with a shudder. "I feel so bad for him…"

"I can imagine."

A low whine was heard from the other side of the room and the two girls turned around to see Lunefeather situated on the floor with a somber expression.

"We need to head out." Hermione yawned and rubbed her eyes, gesturing for the Pegasus to get up and change into human form. "We have classes to get to and we don't want to be late, right Luna?"

"Right." Luna said firmly, stretching and grabbing her bag. "Oh and drink your potion, Ginny. I'm already starting to feel a little sore."

"Wait, wait, wait." Ginny closed her eyes and gestured wildly to her two friends, making them root themselves to the ground and exchange worried expressions. "So you tell me this, and you expect me to stay here in this bed the whole time?" She started to raise her voice, as Luna sighed and said an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, Ginny, but what else do you want us to do?"

The redhead was getting infuriated by the second. "I don't know, stay with me, or let me come with you?"

"Firstly," Hermione huffed in annoyance, "We can't let you come with us, because you will probably faint. Am I right?" she turned to Luna who nodded firmly.

"Right."

"And we can't stay here, because that would leave too much suspicion." She finished, looking towards Ginny with a pained expression and then looking towards Luna and asking again. "Am I right?"

"Right."

"Therefore, we need to go to classes." She finished, clapping her hands and grabbing Luna's shoulders, trying to steer her out of the room. Ginny was lying down with her mouth open and looked completely shell-shocked and annoyed.

Finally, she found her tongue, the function of which didn't exist seconds ago and exclaimed, "So you tell me this and you just leave me hanging? With completely nothing to do? How can you expect me to sit here and sleep? And just do nothing about that bloody awful news you just told you? That's low, guys, come on." She ranted, as Hermione and Luna sighed simultaneously.

"Make some notes." Hermione suggested helpfully, but Ginny shook her head.

"I don't want to do schoolwork!"

"Read some magazines."

"I read all of them before you came." The redhead whined.

Hermione sighed. They were starting to sound like complete children, especially Ginny who wasn't making any sense at all.

"Write a story. Or an article on magical creatures." Luna suggested thoughtfully.

"I don't give a damn about magical creatures, unlike daft stoner that you are, Luna!" Ginny exclaimed, as Luna stared at her friend, obviously hurt by her words. She threw the redhead a dirty look, which was worthy of scaring Slytherin away, and thundered out of the dormitories.

"W-w-wait! Luna! I didn't mean that!" Ginny exclaimed, immediately regretting her words. "Come back here!"

"You know, she won't come back." Hermione informed Ginny, who groaned and fell back. "You should write in a diary."

There was a slow and long silence.

"A diary. Really, Mione?" Ginny gave her an unserious look, but Hermione had a serious expression and was burning her friend down with her glare.

"Yes. Then you can express your emotions about how we're daft stoners and how you're locked up in this hellhole." She snapped violently, waving her wand, as a muggle diary, quill and ink flew out of her trunk and, nearly hitting Ginny in the face, flumped on her bed, and before the redhead knew it, her intelligent friend had vanished behind the wooden doors leading to the enchanted staircase.

~OoOoO~

Hermione fumed for a moment, but then stopped as soon as she entered the Common Room and was out of Ginny's earshot. She looked at the couch, on which Luna was sophisticatedly sitting, reading a book upside down. One would've thought that she wasn't actually reading, but simply acting stupid or was crazy, but no, no, no. This was Luna. This was her definition of normal.

"Hello, Hermione White." She greeted without turning around, which made Hermione grin even more. She loved Luna and being around her graced her to such heights not even Mount Everest could bring her down. "How are you doing this fine morning?"

"As fine as it is, not too well then." Hermione rolled her eyes playfully at stretched slightly.

"Don't roll your eyes, Hermione. They might get lost, you know."

Smirking, Hermione approached Luna, who hadn't even turned around and knew everything her friend was doing.

"What's that you got there?" Hermione asked curiously, peering into the paper, but to her surprise, there was nothing more than a blank page on one of the newest editions of the Quibbler, at which Luna was staring intently.

Luna looked up Hermione with her stunning midnight blue eyes, which were swarming with so many hidden and undiscovered secrets. She shrugged, letting a playful smile play on her lips, as though she had just been given the key to the universe and was keeping it to help her discover something irrelevant, like the use of Kelpie hairs in reaction to Bubotuber acid.

"It's a mirror." Luna said simply, flipping to the blank page. Hermione's face acquired a confused expression. There was nothing but white on that paper. "I know what you're thinking – you're probably assuming that I have gone mad, but I haven't. Not yet at least. We never know what may happen in the near future."

Hermione sighed, "Then why isn't anything showing up. Why isn't there a reflection of the back of the room or whatever is behind you?" she asked, leaning over, trying to look for any instructions which could've possibly been on the page.

"You won't find anything." Luna hummed, letting her smile turn into a smirk and back to into a smile in a matter of seconds. "Because it's all happening inside my head." She stated plainly, as if it were like buttering a piece of toast.

Hermione waited for an explanation, but it never came. "Here," Luna put _The Quibbler _on her lap and took Hermione's hand into her own, while gently guiding it towards _The Quibbler_'s white page. As soon as Hermione touched it, her brain blanked out and all she could see was an unfocused smudge brown, red and yellow.

"I can't see anything." She muttered to herself, as Luna's cheery voice sounded out.

"That's alright. You have to get used to it first."

And then the figures and shapes started to mold and form themselves in Hermione's mind, in the end making out a bookshelf, a small table and a lamp. Eager from seeing the extremely curious image behind her, Hermione yelped, tearing herself away from something, and hit the floor hard, her mind going black.

"Careful, Hermione. You're much too keen to see into the world of the beyond." A laugh was heard somewhere from on top of her, making Hermione grumble lightly.

"What happened?"

"You fell." Luna stated plainly, as if it was the most obvious fact in the universe.

"I get that," Hermione snorted playfully, reaching out and grabbing the arm offered to her.

Luna hoisted her up, and Hermione dusted off her robes. "You were so excited, you ripped yourself away from the page, breaking the connection, which physically backfired on you, hence making you fall." Said the blonde haired girl simply and bounced out of the room, getting her eager bushy-maned Gryffindor friend to chase after her as well.

"That was amazing!" Hermione exclaimed, clapping her hands together, giving a grin worthy of a Marauder. "The overall concepts physics, chemistry and charms mixed to form a single property, making this product such an elite one!" Her eyes were glowing like huge bulbs, as she danced around her unimpressed friend, who was sighing and shaking her head. "Imagine what sort of product we can make from that?!"

Luna sighed again, covering her eyes with frustrated expression on her face. "Hermione, we haven't slept all night, so how does your brain process all of these things? I can barely tell an Erumpent Horn and a Crumple-Horned Snorkack apart and you want to start working on some sort of insane project?" she sighed again, as Hermione stopped jumping and wrapper her arm around her friend's neck.

"I guess you're right." She agreed quickly and quietly, maintaining the same delusional smile on her face. "Come on, let's head to Charms class."

In no time, they were sitting in Charms class, five minutes early for class. In no time Flitwick flew into the room and stood at the front of a class on a high chair, explaining the lesson for the class. Coincidentally, to Hermione's surprise, they started learning about the Undetectable Extension Charm, which was 'particularly tricky'. Yeah that was an understatement.

It took Hermione days to figure out how it works and how exactly to loop the whole spell together in one charm.

As soon as Flitwick was done his complicated lecture, which he completed in a very squeaky voice, not to mention at an apprehensively fast speed, and after that quickly started explaining the tedious and long steps to completing the spells.

"I believe that these charms will have to be studied the whole week!" He exclaimed, as Hermione pulled out her plush eagle feather quill and started to scribble down all that was written on the board. Everything was fine, and just how she liked it until she felt something sharp poke her in the back of her head.

"Ow!" She exclaimed quietly, automatically lifting her hand and ruffling her hair. She ignored it and continued to write down instructions, which Flitwick continued his lecture, not even paying attention to what was happening.

Once again, she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. She pursed her lips and whipped around with a dead-serious expression on her face, and was ready to pounce and murder the person who disturbed her peace. And that person was Sirius.

He was grinning foolishly at her, letting his quill feather brush against his face, as he watched the angry girl stare him down. "What do you want, Black?" She whispered harshly as he shook his head and looked away. Hermione bit the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from saying anything rash and turned around, rolling her eyes.

Her concentration was once again fixed upon the board, until she felt another poke in the back of her head. Now that she turned around and was about to skin that infuriating ponce in the face, she was graced with the image of him flirting with a Ravenclaw seventh year with long blond hair and icy cold blue eyes. Hermione raised her eyebrows. If these were the girls bothering Lily, she wouldn't be surprised that they were more aggressive than Slytherin gals.

A smile curled on her lips. She looked towards the front of the class, then to Lily, who was sitting beside her, Luna who was sitting with Severus on the other side of the room (another development Hermione didn't notice), at the sleeping James sitting diagonally behind her, and then at Sirius and the girl… She could think of something…

A few seconds later she turned around a returned to her paper. The spell would take only moments to activate, since she put a stalling charm on it, so that her movements wouldn't rouse any suspicion. As expected, the next second there was a shriek and everyone in the class turned around towards the source of the horrifying noise.

The Ravenclaw girl, who was so cutely flirting with Sirius was sporting shaggy black hair, whilst Sirius had long blond hair falling down to his waist. Hermione held back her grin, as Sirius hit James, who was still sleeping, in the backside of the head. "What were you thinking, mate?" He exclaimed loudly, grabbing onto the blond hair attached to his head.

"Now I really see the family resemblance between you and Narcissa, Black!" A chortle was heard from the other side of the room, where the Slytherins (and Luna) were seated and were all laughing their heads off. "I daresay, mate, that's where you got your good looks from!" Another wave of guffaws was heard from all over the class, coming from Lily also, which didn't really seem in character, but it was great news that she was enjoying the show.

The poor Charms professor looked like he was about to have a heart attack. His expression simply told the story of him seeing Dumbledore in a blue floral bikini, riding a llama in the Siberian tundra, while reciting muggle poetry and singing _'Here Comes the Sun'_.

"MR. POTTER AND !" He shrieked from the front of the class, literally making everyone from seventh year jump up from his abrupt and unexpected shout. Who would've known that such a man had such a voice. "DETENTION!"

"Professor, I didn't do anything!" James complained, lifting his head off the desk. Hermione examined their Charms teacher who looked at James with mild distrust and uncertainty. Slowly but confidently, he nodded.

"Mr. Black, Ms. McKiddie. You both have detention. McKiddie on Thursday, Black on Friday both at 7:00 sharp in my classroom." The Charms Professor said boldly, standing on his toes with his chin lifted to the cocky seventh years.

Hermione's brains' gears started moving when she finally realized that McKiddie was one of the girls who were trying to sneak out at the same time as them. She was probably following Sirius, but that didn't worry her at all. Her name was Cassie and there were rumours that Sirius dated her for the last couple weeks of sixth year and couldn't get her off his trail.

This made the brunette smirk even more – she could focus more on her own personal life now.

"As for the seating arrangements, this will not do…" Flitwick muttered, waving his wand and virtually encircling the Gryffindor side of the class. "Mr. Black, please move to the back row with Mr. Pettigrew… No, Black, don't chat to Ms. Lowsley, sit closer to the wall…" Flitwick seemed to be proud of himself for his manipulative ways, but Hermione was just hoping not to get put with any prats or anything of the sort.

"I just have a feeling…" Lily muttered from beside her.

"Ms. Williamson, you will be sitting beside Mr. Lupin for the future classes, yes—just infront of Mr. Pettigrew and Mr. Black. Ms. Evergreen will sit with Mr. Nott in the back. Ms. Evans," he squeaked, and Hermione heard Lily inhale sharply from beside her, "Move behind Ms. White, beside Mr. Potter." Lily packed her books silently but slight happiness, covered by annoyance was on her face. Hermione grinned.

"And Ms. White—"

Hermione crossed her fingers hoping for the best, when the doors suddenly, to everyone's surprise opened, and in walked a tall blond well-build student with blond hair and sea-green eyes. To Hermione's shock and absolute excitement, it was no other than Logan Bell. Hermione couldn't help but let a grin cover her face, and some colour flow into her cheeks.

"Er—Professor? Sorry I'm late, I was having a conference with Professor Dumbledore…" He started confidently, holding a slip of paper, which suddenly floated out of his hand and into Flitwick's. The professor read it over and nodded simply.

"Thank you, Mr. Bell. Everyone, this is Logan Bell of Gryffindor House," Logan gave a tight smile to everyone in the room, and lifted his hand in greeting, "He was exceeding his sixth year level in Charms, hence I decided to give him the chance to try N.E.W.T. level charms. If everything goes well, hopefully, Mr. Bell will stay with us for the remainder of the year."

"He's too cute!" A giggle was heard from one of the Ravenclaw girls, who were twirling their hair and hiking up their robes, but Logan paid no attention to them.

"Professor, where should I sit?" He asked, ignoring the comments around him. Hermione couldn't help but smile more, when his eyes drifted to where she was sitting and he looked suggestively at Professor Flitwick.

"Ah, yes, take a seat beside Ms. White. She can assist you with any problems you have." Flitwick stated, turning back towards the board.

Now this was a boy to be impressed by. Hermione was absolutely shell shocked and fell like she was head over heels. Who would've known? A boy who was smart enough to be transferred into a _N.E.W.T. _class, whilst in sixth year, played Quidditch extremely well and had more than decent looks? This boy was on fire!

He smiled to Hermione as he strode to his seat and unpacked his bags.

"We meet again, Ms. White." He laughed, taking out his quill and dabbing it into ink.

"Yes, Mr. Bell. I wouldn't have though that you would have exceeded the expectations in sixth year and have gone ahead for more?" Hermione whispered to him as Flitwick fell back into lecture mode. She offered Logan her extra notes, which he kindly accepted.

"Did you think that I had a knack for Quidditch and then was a dunderhead in life?" He dazzled her with his smile, making her raise her eyebrows playfully.

"I would've never doubted you." Hermione laughed quietly, taking out another piece of parchment and continuing to carefully write down everything important her brain filtered from Flitwick's speech.

"Hmm… Wait—was that a compliment?" Logan stopped writing and looked sideways at Hermione, who gave him a sly smile and a wink.

"Possibly." She stated, nodding her head in consideration.

"That's not seen every day is it, then—"

"Mr. Bell, what is the Undetectable Extension Charm often used for?" Professor Flitwick suddenly turned around, looking straight at Logan. Hermione was sure she heard a bark of a laugh from the back of the class, and irritated pursed her lips.

Flitwick's face had a grim smile, which was more than ninety percent sure that Logan Bell wasn't listening, but the charming Gryffindor was not stupid and not a ponce. He didn't answer with cheeky remarks or idiotic questions, but on the other hand straightened up and cleared his throat.

"As you mentioned, Professor," he gave Professor Flitwick a curt nod, maintaining an intelligent poise and air around him, "The Undetectable Extension Charm can be used for many purposes. Any, if you must. It can be used for storing books, equipment, and other everyday objects, such as wallets, grocery bags and shopping bags; simultaneously, it may be used for larger purposes such as extending a part of a room, a community or even a tent, which is often seen at Quidditch Matches, sir." He said firmly interlacing his fingers and staring at him professor.

A growl, almost dog-like sounded from the back of the class, which made Hermione smirk. Sirius was angry, hence she was happy.

"Alright, Mr. Bell. T-ten point for Gryffindor. Now, the different charms combined to cast an Undetectable Extention Charm consist of…" Flitwick's voice zoned out once again, as Hermione shifted closer to Logan, who was watching her out of the corner of his eye.

"That was close." She exhaled lightly with a small laugh, as he grinned as a reply.

"It was."

A few seconds afterwards class ended and Hermione and Logan exited the class second last, followed by James and Lily.

"What class do you have next?" Logan suddenly turned to Hermione, his deep green eyes searching for an answer her in her shy chocolate ones.

"I have… Herbology…" Hermione stated unsurely, gripping her bag tighter.

He looked at her with a suggestive smile, "Want me to walk you—"

"HERMIONE! I FIGURED IT OUT!" a voice shouted out, as Hermione turned on the balls of her feet to the voice coming from behind her. It was the last voice she was expecting to hear the whole day, and there she was, running full speed down the halls, pushing people out of the way, wearing only her pajamas.

~OoOoO~

The door slammed and Hermione was nowhere in sight. Ginny sighed, gripping the bed sheets.

"But I have a bad experience with diaries…" Ginny stuttered sorrowfully, letting herself fall into the déjà-vu-like flashback of what happened to her in her first year. Even that wasn't possible, since she wasn't able to remember what dark secrets had crept upon her through a plain black, harmless-looking diary.

Afterwards, she was informed of how she acted, and how she was completely not in her own mind. It was someone manipulating her, like a puppeteer controlled the strings on a marionette, occasionally jerking them into awkward positions.

"Since I'm stuck in this so-called hellhole, I better start to do something interesting." She sighed, observing the diary, which she held in her hand. Themed was a brown leather cover with string bindings travelling in a criss-cross pattern down its spine. As a small decoration, a woven flower-themed cloth was sewed to the front of the diary, which gave it an antique and vintage look.

The feeling of holding a leather diary made Ginny nervous, and that usually didn't happen to her. She was usually the stubborn girl who didn't give a damn about what anyone thought and was never shy to admit anything. She liked nails and hair too, but there was a complete tom-boy side to her. She liked to take care of herself, and that's what she was telling her all those years, when living with brothers. She was practically just a stylish boy with a good fashion taste.

"Oh get a grip." She scolded herself. "You're not weak, alright; it's just a bloody diary for Merlin's sake." She grit her teeth and opened it, as the fresh scent of wood and old parchment filled her nostrils.

Cautiously, she flipped through the whole books, just as a premonition. Carefully, after getting more comfortable, she sat up and dabbed her quill in ink, carefully drawing out one five-lettered word. "_Hello."_

Then she waited. Just in case, because the ink had to dry, right? But even after ten minutes of waiting, no responsive writing appeared. Ginny grinned toothily, pulling her red hair back in a high ponytail and started to write.

"_Hello. My name is Ginny Weasley, and this is my diary."_

She cringed and pursed her lips. She didn't like the sound of that, but she decided that none of it would be scratched out.

"_No. It's not a diary. I don't keep diaries. This is my journal, and the story of my life. Umm…" _she let the ink dribble on the parchment, as she bit her tongue in consideration.

"_Now… This is my first dia—journal. And I don't know how to start, because there's lots of stuff happening. In my past life I was a carefree child who loved Quidditch and Exploding Snap, and I had six brothers, which made there be seven Weasley children, me being the only girl. I loved my brothers, especially Fred and George. Charlie and Bill were also quite nice but I didn't see them too often. They were either at school, or off at work. Ron is a twat and a git. Not to mention a moron and… I just won't continue. Percy is very stuffy, or so I find him. Hm… No fun at all._

"_I was born on… Wait. I can't really remember. Oh yeah, August 11__th__, 1981. Don't judge, okay? There are so many birthdays and important dates to remember, my head is flooded with pointless ones. The perks of having so many relatives are presented before you, lads. Readers. Whoever you are. Since being a kid I was treasured like a Christmas present. It's stupid that they think I'm weak because I'm not. I'm not that awkward antisocial kid, alright? I stand up for myself._

"_I spent most of my time with Fred and George, who taught me how to fly. They called me an idiot so many times for trying to sneak out at night and stealing their broomsticks, trying to feel the wind against my face, because it felt good? But what can I say, they raised me well. Ron was a pig to me and Percy was being a stupid git, who doesn't know any better than I do._

"_Harumph. No clue where that came from, but I hate being labeled as Ron's idiot little sister, who doesn't have a clue of what she's doing. It irks me so much, I want to curse all of their faces so much, so that they look like Professor Moody in the end. Constant vigilance! I'm not trying to boast, but I'm attractive and thinking that just because my brother is a twat, doesn't mean that I can't have a social life. In that way, I'm like Fred and George. We're like outsiders in the family, but we make a pretty cool gang._

"_Dueling, flying, those are my fortes. Even Herbology, since I got a knack from it while dating Neville. Harry and I got together, but I didn't want to admit that we weren't meant to be. Harry needs someone reliable, and I dare say, I am reliable, but not in the way he needs. He needs someone impulsive, and just like him. Someone like me, but the thought that I am his best friend's sister will never leave his mind and there will be a part of him probably always nudging him that he can't do anything that could affect both our relationship and his friendship with Ron. _

"_And then that stupid absolute unexpected delivery. Do I look like post on a Saturday morning? I don't think that I would like to be sent away without a warning; maybe two days, or three to pack all the things of mine and send my lovely goodbyes to my cousins and fabulous loquacious Auntie Muriel. I miss her already. (sarcasm). At least it's a laugh to have her there when we set of dungbombs in the living room… That cow._

"_Never thought I'd open up this much to a bunch of papers. Still you listen better than a majority of the dolts out there in the world. You don't comment or give rude suggestions no one wants to hear. And then Harry, Hermione and that dolt left me, and I was alone, suffering under the wrath of Death Eaters… That was a lonely time, but it was fun as hell, especially since Peeves started to side with us as well, pull off pranks and blow stuff up over the school, set everything on fire, things like that. _

"_Then I taught Hermione how to fly and I have to admit, she's a pretty fair flier. After not even wanting to touch a broomstick with a finger for nearly seven years, I was quite surprised the first time she got on. George was actually the one who persuaded her, and it was pretty hilarious. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. George also tried to make a beater out of her, and she's an amazing beater as well. I have to admit, George taught her well. I have no clue what he did but she can whip those bludgers to the other side of town if she wants to._

"_I was so bloody giddy when we finally got George out! I was planning to brag about our accomplishments to the whole family, Fleur and Charlie's gal as well, because it was such a great success! And while George was off talking to Katie Bell, Oliver started talking to me! Like actual conversational speaking, not 'oh, it's the Weasleys' pet of a daughter', because it doesn't work that way. I am an independent woman now. Hah! In your face, Ronald!_

"_And then all this Founders stuff, Hermione not being who she really is, that really knocked me off my feet, even though I shouldn't be the one so shocked, since it wasn't my story, but hers. But she's one of my best friends, what else can I do about it? _

"_The fashion sense in 1977 is amazing too! Of course not as eye-catching as 1997-1999, because that's completely out of the case. Hippies and rockers are all you get around here, but there are some cute dresses. Broomsticks suck, but at least we have our old ones from the Founders' place. Of course we have to put halting charms so that it doesn't look to different, but I have a tendency of lifting them sometimes. Hopefully Hermione won't find out!_

"_Then Remus… I feel so bad for him. Someday, I really need to show him that he's special and the things that he went through only make him stronger and he needs to gain more self-confidence. He's exactly the same as Harry – he feels that everything that revolves around him and messes up a tiny bit is his fault. I can't believe about the news of Dufftown. It's awful. Remus is probably going to try and drown himself, but that's where I come in. I do not judge people because I don't want to be judged and I know how it feels to be judged. _

"_And that stupid riddle… I can't get it out of my head – it's like a song stuck in my head. Maybe it's some sort of omen, but nothing of the sort, or any part of the riddle has happened yet… It's kind of weird. Or maybe it has, I can't completely remember…"_

Ginny furrowed an eyebrow… How could she find a way to remember the riddle and how it actually related to their current life in Hogwarts. Hermione told her and Luna the riddle already, but it would be impossible to remember it. She didn't have a pensieve, or any place to store the memory, unless she wanted to sneak into Dumbledore's office. She couldn't use Legilimency on herself… But she could use it on someone else…

The redhead fell quiet. She needed to feel Hermione at that moment. She needed to concentrate on what the girl was feeling and how weak her barriers were at that moment. Hermione always had her barriers up, but sometimes she weakened them when too much was going on in her head. Like an overwork.

Concentrating, Ginny closed her eyes and took out her wand, sitting up straight in her bed. "_Legilimens_." She pronounced clearly and carefully, when suddenly she was outsider her friend's mind. It seemed like she was sitting on her nose or in her vision, because she could see everything she saw. She was partially in her mind, but she needed her friend to relax more to get further in. Right at that moment, as if on cue, a noise came from the door and a silhouette of a well-built boy was seen from the entrance, as Hermione's barriers dropped completely for a split second, and Ginny barely made it in.

"_Hmm…" _Ginny chuckled, "_Distracted by a cute boy… How sweet_." She cooed, but proceeded to find the desirable information.

Knowing Hermione, everything was organized and stacked in neat folders not to mention alphabetical order: 'Friends', 'Horcruxes', 'Important', 'Memories', 'Miscellaneous', 'Mission', 'Quidditch', 'School'. Ginny considered for a moment. It wouldn't be in 'Horcruxes', 'Miscellaneous', 'Quidditch', or 'School'. It would either be in 'Important' or 'Mission', but 'Friends' looked like a tempting choice as well, but Ginny took control over herself.

She chose the 'Mission' folder and a new set of folders re-opened. There were many subtopics which caught the redhead's eye, such as: 'Marauders', 'Relationships and Friendships', 'Dumbledore and Riddle's History', 'Founders', 'To-Do List', 'Riddle'.

Just what she needed. Ginny smiled subconsciously, and entered the folder. There was so much information that Hermione hadn't told. Whether she was trying, or not, Hermione had started working on figuring out the riddle, for there was an insane map of connections, pictures relating, but many were just estimates. Suddenly, Ginny felt herself fall into a scene. It was all dark, and all she could hear was a clear voice and she saw the face of a young girl.

"_Your journey has already started. And part you have completed. You, child of the light, have already come to the sanctuary. The sanctuary all dream to be. Even I – I can be everywhere, but nowhere at once. The faithful imagination you have along and sneaky fox shall aid you on the way. Although not careful the fox may be, nor she nor your imagination will parish or be lost."_

"_The light will face a dangerous quest – be careful on the way... for dark may harm and wound you much and you will be left to pay. Beware the fourth – the fourth is dangerous for both you and the others around. Whilst you are on this hearty quest, the fourth will be sneaking around." _

"_The birth of Christ shall be the day, prior to which you must go. Search in the obvious spot of the line – everything was once hidden there. A couple months of rest will do no harm, but soon you must go… go… when the hare hops to the silver moon, then you must go. For where the swans do strut in their hollow below." _

"_Dost you go to the third hiding, that is not needed of you. For the golden phoenix will fly to the den and set the dark to fire. Tricky to find his mother's possession – the one she kept all along. Don't over think, or you will fail – follow the prince's book. For that will lead you to the place where lastly the one is hidden. To complete the quest, under changes much go – unforgiven to be forgiven. When all is gone and all is through, the light will darkened."_

Right when the riddle finished, the girl gave Ginny an eerie smile and right at that moment, she felt herself getting catapulted out of Hermione's mind, as if a gust of strong Atlantic wind knocked her about like a boat in a raging storm.

Looking down at her lap, Ginny noticed that the diary was lying there and she had incidentally written down everything she just heard! Oh, her lucky day!

Quickly and silently, she got to work, trying to develop at least the first part of the riddle. She needed to see if the riddle corresponded to them, someone else, or was just trying to knock the three girls off their path.

Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes, even more. She hadn't even counted or kept track, but a gear skidded in her head and something clicked, as Ginny yelped and jumped up, triumphantly holding up her diary.

Her eyes were wide with shock, sky blue eyes furiously roaring with excitement and it looked like lightning crackled as she resolved and said as quickly as possible."I need to find Hermione and Luna." the next thing she knew, she was out the door.

* * *

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter :) Reviews are greatly appreciated. This is awesome. I feel so good now! I decided to add more of a Ginny-point of view here, and I hope I did it well. I think I did. **

**Oh and special thanks, just a few moments ago (omg I can't believe myself -_-) to ****Mrs. Theodore Nott**, who corrected incredulous mistake in this chapter. Thank you, I love you so much!x

**Thanks for reading, following, favouriting, reviewing, and sticking along with my all these long and tedious months. **

**Lots of love and hugs for everyone**

**GirlxMarauder**


	17. Chapter 17

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**Chapter 17**

From all the excitement built up in her, she didn't take any notice to what was happening around her. All she wanted to do was find Hermione and Luna and tell them about her discovery. She was so excited because she was never the wise one in the group to actually be able to figure out a part of any riddle. She couldn't even answer simply riddles for children, because maybe instead of studying, she ran off with Fred and George, who taught her jokes and pranks. That only meant she had some good ones stored in case of a prank war, which was pretty handy.

Soon enough, she was flying down the Charms corridors, attempting to search for her two friends. Everyone had already started passing through the halls, giving her eerie looks, but Ginny was gone as fast as she came, which gave everyone the illusion of an orangey-red blur.

She stopped to catch her breath, only to see familiar bleach coloured hair. Not far from it a gorgeous heap of chocolate coloured hair. Feeling internal glory, she sprinted towards them, accidentally knocking over some blond girl's bag, and nearly tripping a trembling Peter. She was mere meters away from her friends as the excitement, held captive inside of her like a savage animal had broken loose.

"HERMIONE! I FIGURED IT OUT!" she yelled, nearly jumping onto her friend whose face withheld both shock and disappointment. Ginny didn't understand why her friend looked so awkward until her eyes drifted to the person standing beside her. At first, she assumed it was Luna, because of Luna's position a mere few seconds ago, but Luna was standing over to the side with Severus.

"Ohh…" Ginny said awkwardly, doing a little bounce. "Logan Bell, right?" She asked with a tight smile, attempting to diffuse the tension.

"Yeah." He smiled back. They stood there awkwardly.

"Logan, it's alright, you can go." Hermione smiled lightly, ruffling Ginny's hair, as an older sister does to her younger one, merely playfully, but significantly decreasing the awkwardness of the situation. "I have to treat a sick patient. Don't want anything back to happen to her."

Logan gave her a dazzling smile, and laughed slightly. "Alright, see you around, Hermione. Get better, Ginny." He passed by Luna and waved at her, giving a firm nod to Severus, who was quite taken back, but recovered quickly by returning the nod.

Ms. Granger gripped Ginn'y arm, as colour rose in her cheeks, and Ginny's jaw dropped. "Logan Bell?" She whispered hoarsely, maintaining the goofy grin she had the same time, "When did you pick him up?" She giggled, as Hermione rolled her arms and once again messed up Ginny's hair, playfully wrapping her arms around her friend's neck.

"Not in public." She shot back playfully, but seriously, as they exited the crowd, Ginny still wearing her green pajamas. Luna was about to walk with them, but Hermione waved her off mouthing "_I'll deal with this one_", and in reply received a devious smirk from their blond friend who disappeared in the crowd with her Slytherin friend.

As soon as the two girls reached the Gryffindor Common Room and Hermione forced Ginny to get back to bed, take a potion, and only then did Ginny retell Hermione what had happened.

"So, basically, I just understood that the riddle is true. I've figured out and connected the beginning of it to our real lives." Ginny stated firmly, as Hermione looked at her in surprise and in appreciation.

"My, my, Ginny, I never thought your injuries would influence your wisdom so much. Maybe I should whip a bludger at you again someday?" Hermione joked around, stroking Ginny's hair in mock-pity.

Ginny grabbed one of her pillows and threw it at Hermione's face, who yelped and playfully threw it back at her friend.

"I've been trying to figure some things out as well. And I think I have some parts together." Hermione stated thoughtfully, running her delicate fingers through her chocolate brown hair, which was quite messy at the moment, and Hermione couldn't resist the temptation and tied it up in a bun.

"I know that." Ginny said plainly. "I went through your mind to get the information on the riddle. It's extremely organized and I—"

"So it was _you_!" Hermione exclaimed, clapping her hands over her mouth. "I couldn't understand what was happening! I got distracted for one moment and then I felt someone else's presence. First I thought I was hallucinating, but then the riddle started popping into my head and I finally realized that someone was in there."

"So you basically vomited me out." Ginny continued lamely, crossing her legs and clapping her hands once, giving a tight lipped smile not showing her amusement. "I didn't think it'd hurt that much."

"Well," Hermione shot back, "keep out of my mind and you won't get hurt." She stuck out her tongue as Ginny rolled her eyes. "So what have you got?" Hermione turned back to serious mode and thoughtfully eyed her friend.

"In the beginning of the riddle went something like 'your journey has already started'. Well that's kind of rhetorical." Ginny stated dully, as Hermione nodded in agreement. "Like thank for the memo, but if getting thrown back twenty years wasn't the start of the journey, I wouldn't want to mess with you anymore, and no one would want to mess with a ticked off Ginevra Weasley."

Hermione chuckled and lightly punched Ginny in the shoulder. "Continue your theory, yet-to-be-ticked-off Ginevra Weasley." She smirked.

"Alright, alright. Don't be so pushy though." Ginny faked a posh accent, lifting her nose in the air and improving her posture automatically. "Then it's something like 'and part you have completed. You, child of the light, have already come to the sanctuary', which probably means that the sanctuary is either Diagon Alley or—"

"Hogwarts." They both said together.

"As everyone says, Hogwarts is the safest possible place during a war." Hermione acknowledged her past intelligence. "Even if there is a werewolf massacre somewhere near." She shivered lightly, as Ginny nodded.

"What was up with that?"

"I dunno, Gin," Hermione sighed, "It mean more riddles and less answers." They both let out irritated sounds and continued analyzing.

"Then there's something blah, blah, blah, about you being the most important one, we all get that," she rolled her eyes, receiving a well-deserved nudge from Hermione. "Okay, okay, calm down. After hanging around me, you've become so violent. Anyways, 'the faithful imagination you have along and sneaky fox shall aid you on the way. Although not careful the fox may be, nor she nor your imagination will parish or be lost'. I already like this." Ginny nodded cheerfully.

"What's so great about this?" Hermione wrinkled her nose, and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, my dear Hermione, it says that Luna and I will help you, and even though I get hurt, which I did yesterday night, we will not die anytime soon in this world." She finished plainly, as Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Ginny, Ginny, Ginny… You only think about yourself, don't you?"

Ginny opened her mouth in protest, "No." She stated firmly. "I think about myself before I think about others. Now that's an important fact." She redhead flicked her hair and gave a sincere and reassuring nod.

"Alright, do you have anything else?" Hermione asked, as Ginny shook her head.

"I was so excited at that point, I lost my train of thought and interrupted your little rendez-vous with Mr. Bell… By the waaayy!" Ginny squealed, turning to the girly side of herself once again, "What's happening with that?"

Hermione exhaled, blowing one of the strands, which tumbled out of her messy bun onto her face. "Not now, Gin, I need to get—eek!" She shrieked, jumping off the bed, grabbing her bag and nearly tripping over Ginny's trunk.

"What's wrong?!" Ginny exclaimed, jumping from her bed, ready to help her friend, who was struggling to push some parchment and quills into her bag.

"I have Herbology!" She exclaimed hurriedly, "BYE!" and before she knew it, Ginny was in the room once again left alone, with only the harsh slam of the door to bid adieu to her. But even though they had parted, both of the girls were concentrated on only one thing – that riddle...

~OoOoO~

Step by step the girls were starting the piece the riddle together, although they weren't having much success. Each had their own theories, the next crazier than the previous. It was extremely queer, especially since Godric and Rowena wouldn't dare help. It was either the occasional answers to homework or snide comments about boys made by Godric, sometimes even suggestions for pranks, but Hermione didn't have a cause for that.

In her mind, and suggestively in all her friends' as well, Hermione decided that if they wanted to play some pranks, they would have to have time, and little less competition, as well as a cause. It were the Marauders who were blowing everything up and pulling spontaneous pranks, but the girls wanted something original. Now and then, Hermione and Ginny would change something about Sirius, James or Peter, but that was it. Some polka dot dapples, occasionally some stripes or a bald head. Everyone knew that hair was a touchy area for the Marauders, even for Peter.

Quidditch practices were getting more frequent and games were approaching. The classes were challenging, but none to enrage the young witch into tears. She did all her work at the constant pace. With more recent attacks, James and Lily were off on duty and attempted to calm down exhausted students.

Of course, all the girls were drooling over Professor Daslor. Him and his good looks, capturing poise, intelligence and ability of protection. But mostly because of his good looks. Hermione couldn't believe what she was seeing. If a Death Eater who was good looking, was hired for a job at Hogwarts, he could easily kill off half the female population, because they were simply pathetic. Literally.

Now Hermione understood how crazy James was about Quidditch. She thought that she got the memo when first joined the team, but he was worse. They practiced at least three or four days a week, regardless of the weather. It was sweltering hot, in which cases Sirius had a tendency to take off his shirt and fly by the bleachers more often; freezing cold, when your teeth could literally shatter from the wind; and even mucky and wet, when the visibility was awful and they came back covered in sticky opaque mud.

Everyone was still freaked out from the results of the werewolf attack. The mood had fallen slightly, so everyone was trying to do everything in their capabilities to cheer each other up.

Sirius had started to try and flirt with Hermione more often, which ticked her off even more and more. Whenever she was trying to have a normal conversation with someone, he would always slice in and start calling her 'love' and 'dear', and shamelessly flirting, which earned him a slap or a blow to the back of his head, but he still kept on coming.

Hermione groaned. Why couldn't this happen in her past life when she was lonely. Now when she had Luna, Ginny and Lily, for some reason they were in the center of attention.

It was a Friday, and it was warm but cloudy. The clouds weren't heavy – they were yearning to come apart and let the sun shine and at times they did. Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table. It was their game against Slytherin, and this was the first game of the season, as well as Hermione's first ever school game. She was nervous and fiddled with her fork.

Trying to eat as much as possible, she nearly choked on her toast. Shaking her head, she put her fork down and started paying closer attention to her teammates. Ginny was talking to Luna, who was sporting a red and gold Gryffindor scarf, and got nominated as Hogwarts Quidditch Commentator. Lily rushed into the hall and took her seat beside Hermione.

"Nervous?" She asked carefully, as Hermione gave a faint smile in reply. "You should honestly eat something, so else you'll fall off your broom, and we don't want that to happen."

Hermione nodded and reconsidered, taking a long dreadful look at her toast. This wasn't like a test – it was worse, because you had to know what you were doing or else you would fail.

An unsettling munching sound was carried slightly down the table, and on pure instinct, especially due to her nerves jittering, Hermione nearly did a backflip because of the sound, but it ended up being only James and Sirius. They were eating almost in unison, creating an extraordinarily loud duet. Their fork clangs were nearly synchronized, as they piled more and more food onto their plates.

"Disgusting." She heard Lily mutter from beside her. The redhead was shaking her head and even refusing to look over, and kept her eyes directed at her own plate.

"How do they even do that? It's like the food doesn't even get into their systems." Hermione marveled to Lily, who rolled her eyes.

"They're a bunch of pigs, they are." She stated plainly, sipping her pumpkin juice, and eating a bit of her oatmeal. Hermione smiled at a comparison she made in her head – Harry was nothing like James. He barely ate before any of his games, while James ate like there was no end to the food being delivered, and Hermione was sure that he and Sirius would be talented enough to eat all the food in the Hall.

"You nervous, Mione?" Ginny asked from across the table, grinning at her friend.

"A little." Hermione admitted truthfully.

"There's nothing to be afraid of." She heard a voice from behind her, settling down into the seat next to her. "All we have to do is play according to the plan that James created for us." Remus smiled lightly and started eating elegantly. He looked like a lady in the Buckingham Palace awaiting the Queen, in comparison to James and Sirius who were eating like they had been starved for a thousand years.

"All we have to do is crush those Slytherins to pulp." Ginny exclaimed, punching the palm of her other hands and grinning wildly. She put her red hair in a ponytail and out of the corner of her eye, Hermione could see Remus watching little Ms. Evergreen. Hermione turned her head at Remus and gave him a sly smile, making him redden.

"I agree with Ginny's statement!" Sirius suddenly shouted through a mouthful of food, and Ginny smirked, punching the air and cheering.

Luna raised an eyebrow thoughtfully and pointed out smartly. "That would be a pretty gruesome sight and I think that one penalty wouldn't be enough." The whole table seemed to be choking on their own tears of laughter. "Besides, I don't think that it would be a great experience to clean the whole thing up afterwards. I don't think that Mr. Filch would be too happy to. It would be simply easier for Mrs. Norris to eat the leftovers."

Everyone rumbled with laughter and even Hermione cracked a smile, and soon enough everyone got back to their food. Luna bid her friends farewell, wished them luck, and headed towards the Slytherin table, where she sat beside Regulus and Severus.

"Lily?" James said suddenly, wiping some marmalade off his chin. "Wourd you goout wid mey?" He asked spontaneously, but hopefully, at which Lily scoffed and whipped her hair back.

"With you?" She laughed sarcastically, letting her face morph into a disbelieving look. "You can't even eat your food properly and you want me to go out with you? Even a four year old has better manners than you."

The Gryffindors gave out laughing, and Hermione saw Lily trying to hide her smile, as she puffed out her chest in pride, enjoying the attention not towards her, but towards James, whose face still withheld a grin, since he was probably used to the art of rejection by Lily. Or he was covering his pain with a mere smirk.

"Well, then…" He wiped his mouth, and put his napkin on the table, while walking over and moving Ginny and some Gryffindor girl apart and settling in between. He leaned over the table to that he was mere inches away from Lily, who didn't dare move and asked huskily. "Maybe a kiss for good luck then?"

He wiggled his eyebrows, but Lily was fuming. Hermione frowned, and winced, ready for the blow to come. _Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it… _She thought while Lily started at James. Hermione knew exactly what she had in plan, even though she 'knew' Lily for less than two months.

"Kiss you? I'm sorry Potter, but I'd rather kiss any boy in the school instead of you. Even if it had to be a Slytherin." She exclaimed, so that everybody heard. Even the Slytherins perked their ears and seemed to all lean towards the Gryffindor table.

"Alright, Evans? You always say these things, such as marrying the Giant Squid and dating a professor, but I never see you do it." James crossed his arms over his chest and held his nose up in an aristocrat-like manner. Remus held his breath, for Hermione felt him tense up beside her. Sirius smacked his head, nearly flipping over his unfinished food. Ginny smiled eagerly and smiled looking from side to side.

"You doubt me, Potter?" Lily narrowed her eyes, leaning towards him with her fists clenched and teeth gritted.

"Of course." He said simply, not even bothering to look at her. There was a long pause from all the tables. Even the teachers seemed to be looking, but regardless, the expression on Lily's face clearly stated that she didn't care, and that she would somehow come up with a witty excuse or compromise.

"Bite me." She spat, and did what no one thought she would do. She got out from the table and straightened her robes. Her red hair, which used to be in a ponytail, was now hanging loose and she draped her scarf over her shoulders. She pulled her shoulders back and started walking towards the Slytherin table. Hermione was awed. She knew that this would happen, but Lily literally looked like a supermodel.

James was sitting at the table, mouth agape, his expression misunderstanding and confused. At that moment, everyone was looking at Lily, and she was aware of that, but no feeling of subconscious overcame her and she continued. James looked shocked. He pulled his black hair back, clutching it almost painfully and fixed his glasses. He stared at Lily.

Everyone watched as Lily walked towards the Slytherin table, where the Slytherins were lounging, but at that moment they were all sitting up straight. Catcalls were heard and even though Lily was muggleborn, everyone knew she was good-looking and extremely attractive, and just for one time even the Slytherins wouldn't be able to resist Lily, and they wouldn't be able to call her a mudblood too, because Luna practically ran that house and would curse anyone.

Hopeful Slytherins sat up, but Lily walked past all of them, no matter how cute they were, and there were some pretty attractive ones. She had her eye fixed on only one and Hermione dug her face into her hands, looking through the gaps between her fingers. She looked over to see Sirius, who was shell-shocked after the realization had struck him. James didn't seem to be able to realize anything at that moment, and Ginny was barely able to stifle her giggles.

Lily walked until the near middle of the Slytherin table and walked up to her target. She leaned over, grabbed his Quidditch robes with one hand and the other entangled itself in his smooth black hair. Then, her lips crashed down on his. Everyone was either in shock, or laughing their heads off. Cat calls were heard from all over the room. James was still and silent. Sirius was mortified.

It seemed like Lily wanted to get her point through, especially since she didn't let go for a good ten seconds. Then, she pulled back and walked over to the Gryffindor table with pride, catcalls and cheers following her. She had a big grin on her face as she headed towards Hermione.

She pulled her bag from under the table and flung it over her shoulder. She gave everyone at the table a calm smile. "By the way, Sirius." Sirius lifted his head in misery, and glanced at the redhead. "Your brother is a brilliant snogger." And with that, she walked out of the hall, and there was no sign of her.

"You go, girl!"

"Great job!"

"Yeah, show that Potter how it's done!"

"Smoking!"

Comments were called out all direction after the retreating redhead.

"I don't get it." James mumbled stupidly. He was staring at Hermione and she replied with a forced smile. "Sirius, mate, what just happened?" He asked, closing his eyes and trying to recollect himself.

"Mate." Sirius cleared his throat, throwing James an uneasy look. "Lily just snogged my brother."

"Regulus?" James asked.

"Do I have another brother?" Sirius tried to crack James up, but the boy only just understood what had happened, because his face started turning red and he started turning into a so-called hulk.

Hermione quickly nodded towards Ginny, who got the memo and grabbed a strawberry, quickly collecting her Quidditch equipment and the two girls darted out of the room. It was just in time that they left, when they heard.

"I'M GONNA KILL THAT BLOODY WANKER!"

The two girls giggled as they ran up to the Gryffindor Common Room. As they entered, they saw Lily sitting on one of the couches and clutching her head.

"Hermione!" She exclaimed. "What did I just do?"

"Well," Hermione started, "Just to justify this information for you, you just snogged Sirius Black's brother, Regulus Black, right before a Slytherin vs. Gryffindor match, which is probably going to result in Regulus' probable death."

"But that was totally worth it." Ginny sat down on the loveseat. She looked completely impressed. "I respect you so much more for that, you don't even understand. You showed that Potter how it's done." She added with a grin and a wink, which made Lily give the girls an uneasy smile.

"But still!" Lily groaned, digging her fingers into her hair. "I've told him umpteen times not to embarrass me or ask me out."

"Is he a good snogger though?" Ginny asked curiously, leaning towards the redhead.

Lily reddened. "Yes?" She muttered, attempting to hide her blush. "Would I really lie and say that he's an awful kisser though?"

"Well, both Sirius and James looked completely dumbfounded." Hermione added in with a smile. "I think that if that could be rated on the scale of a physical punch, they would probably be incapable of having children for the rest of their lives." She added in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone, which made her two friends laugh.

"Honestly, I know how many insults I'm going to get from all those awful Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff girls, but I think I rocked it." Lily gave out a faint grin, covered by her seriousness. "But at first, I didn't know who to choose. I was thinking Flint, but that would've been a little too much. Also Pucey didn't look so bad, since he's pretty cute," this caused Hermione and Ginny to giggle, "but I decided that Regulus would be a better pressure point."

"Well, Lily, he's very envied, might get murdered by James, or is getting high fives from Slytherin blokes and after this day is probably going to get lots of ladies." Ginny said thoughtfully. "That's how girls work. A hot chick goes picks up the boy and bam! He's suddenly popular out of his wits."

"What are you going to do if a Professor approaches you?" Hermione asked curiously, attempting not to smile, but her extremely good mood was evident.

"I already thought that over," Lily rolled her eyes playfully, "don't worry. All I'd say, is 'Ahem", Lily suddenly acquired her Head Girl voice, and got up, straightening up her back and walking up the Hermione, who was leaning on a chair, "Professor Dumbledore, I was merely attempting to correct the House Unity, as you had suggested earlier.'" Hermione and Ginny started clapping as Lily took a shy bow.

"That sorted out quickly…" Hermione laughed, as she pulled her hair back and redid her ponytail.

"Okay, girls, let's head out to the pitch." Ginny got up and stretched, "Potter probably already started his extremely aggravating lecture." She threw Lily a wink, and the three girls headed out.

They had barely headed out when their path was crossed by Professor McGonagall.

"Ms. Evans." She exclaimed strictly, as Lily automatically straightened up like a toy soldier and Hermione and Ginny sort of blended with the walls for those few moments. "The performance you provided us with in the Great Hall was simply—"

"Professor McGonagall, I can explain." Lily cleared her throat and shot nervous glances to Ginny and Hermione at her either sides. "I was only attempting to promote the House Unity that our school is lacking at the moment." She finished boldly, as McGonagall eyed her very closely through her glasses.

"Very well, Ms. Evans, I believe you. But what I was trying to say was that what you did in the Great Hall was simply," Hermione, Ginny and Lily winced at the harsh works ready to come out of their Professor's mouth, but were proven otherwise, "remarkable and even motivating. I think that it has been too long that Mr. Potter has been pushing you around and embarrassing you in front of everyone."

There was an awkward silence. "Sorry professor?"

"You should gain control of the situation." The Professor said strictly and seriously, as her face earned a strict smile. "Grab him by the horns and tame him. Don't let his impulsiveness and cockiness overcome you! You are a strong, independent woman, and I am sure that you will be able to deal with this situation. Ms. White, you, Ms. Evergreen and Ms. Thorn can help."

The group was shell-shocked.

"What are you saying by that Professor?" Lily was barely able to make out the words, hence they came out very slowly and unconfidently.

"I am saying, Ms. Evans," Professor McGonagall stated calmly, as her lips curved into a smile, "That revenge is a dish best served cold."

And with that, their Head of House had disappeared. She had literally just given them the permission to take revenge on the boys. Another way to put it, she had just given the girls legal permission to pull some pranks and to get them back for all that had happened.

"Whoah." Was all the three girls could say.

"So…" Ginny smiled toothily, "when do we start?"

"Wait, are you sure we should do this?" Lily stopped the two from scheming. She raised her arms and gave them both stern looks.

"Lily, m'dear." Hermione hooked her friend's arm as they started gallantly strolling down the hall. "A teacher, not to mention the strictest here at Hogwarts, has just given us permission to get our revenge and pull some pranks. What exactly are you concerned about?" Hermione exclaimed, letting her voice echo down the hall.

"But—"

"Don't worry, Lily." Hermione stopped her, trying to ease her friend's worry. "Ginny, Luna and I have many pranks up our sleeves." She gave a wink as Lily thought hard and considered her offer.

"I guess we can…" She said unsurely, and Ginny yelped and jumped in the air, pumping her first.

"We have more than just some pranks up our sleeves." Ginny put mischievously, turning in a circle and jumping in the air from excitement."

They were walking down the hall and discussing what great pranks they could think, of when Hermione remembered something was missing.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, suddenly, feeling her robe pockets, but nothing was there. Suspiciously, she patted her Quidditch uniform pockets as well, but there was nothing there either. "I forgot my gloves!" she exclaimed, nearly smacking herself. "Remember the ones we bought in Diagon Alley, before the year started?" She asked Ginny, who raised her eyebrow.

"Well, you better go get them. Don't want our little prized chaser to her splinters or go break her fingers off, do we now?" Ginny smirked, looping her arm with Lily and skipping away. "And try to come faster, or Potter will get as pissed as a Hippogriff when a Malfoy taunts him." She called over her shoulder, making Hermione laugh, and Lily start to inquire.

"Oh, Ginny, Ginny. Have fun attempting to get yourself out of that one." Hermione shook her head giddily and sprinted back to the Common Room.

As soon as she got upstairs to their dorm, she found her gloves lying on her bed, and she could nearly see the Malfoy-like smirk on them… Even though they were inanimate objects… How much sense did that make?

Humming one of the Beatles' hits, she sat down on her bed in deep thought. It was just one of those moments when she would blank out and think of nothing. She still couldn't imagine what had happened. She had been in the past for three months already. Three months. Right now, twenty years into the future, what exactly what happening? What did they change, if they did change anything?

Terror struck Hermione. What if they didn't change anything? What if Harry still became the Chosen One and Voldemort wasn't stopped in time. What were they doing here? They were wasting time, playing Quidditch and flirting with cute boys, but how was that going to change something?

Another side of her stepped into the argument. Maybe for the first couple of months she had to pull a cover in order for everybody to understand that she, Luna and Ginny and nothing suspicious and have nothing to do with the future, the Order of the Phoenix or killing Voldemort.

But still, no action was taking place. They needed to start to do something. It was already two months since they got the riddle, but all they had thought of and had done was read out of the first part and laid out the basics. There would be no going back for a second time.

A wave of nausea sprung upon Hermione, as a massive headache attacked her in full violence. What if they should've gone back into the time of Tom Riddle and tried to change him? Maybe that would have caused a greater effect.

But… Then the future could be completely unpredictable… Another Dark Wizard could've arisen in fifty years.

"**Hermione, you really should get going to the Quidditch pitch…**" She heard a voice break through, as if she had just emerged out of the water.

She looked around, not being able to see anyone, but then realized that the voice wasn't physically there. It was in her head. Father.

"Is this all right, father?" She questioned him miserable, griping her head and looking up towards the ceiling. "Was it right that we got sent here, specifically to this time period?"

"**I believe it is all right. Of course, we can't even predict what will happen next, since time is such a tricky thing to meddle with and we can only send certain people back in time or forward in time, or even back to life. I believe that we made the right choice.**" His confident voice boomed out. "**And… Er—Helga wishes you good luck. So does Rowena. And Salazar wants to talk to you… You know…**"

"Slytherin?" Hermione nearly yelped out, biting her tongue in the end. "Slytherin?" She asked once again, quietly, ruffling her own hair, and gazing thoughtfully at a glamorous Quidditch poster on Ginny's wall.

"**Erm—yeah…**" Gryffindor said uncomfortably, and the awkwardness was heard through just the connection. "**He says that it's urgent.**"

Hermione's face morphed into confusion. Urgent? What could Slytherin want from her? As far as she was concerned, he hated her guts!

Confused and completely blown in the head, Hermione forgot about her headache and nausea and managed through her breath, "Umm… Ok-ay?" She asked, still as confused as before.

"_**I know that you're confused about this whole mission. But, if you keep on moping and sitting there doing nothing, nothing at all is going to get accomplished.**_" Slytherin's voice boomed into Hermione's head. Hermione had already thought that she lost her mind, because, Slytherin, the founder who hated Gryffindor, was talking to her.

"Uh huh…" She said indistinctly, not being able to think up of anything more intelligent to say.

"_**Now, you're considering that you should've gone back in time to Tom Riddle Era? Am I right?**_"

"I was just considering that maybe—" Hermione started, but she was cut off by her uncle again.

"_**Yes, you were. But that wouldn't have worked. Honestly, Tom Riddle might've had a heart, which was destroyed since he was a child. His father disowned him, his mother died and he was thrown into an orphanage. If you somehow wanted to change the future, you would have to go disguised as a half-blood witch to the orphanage, and Merlin knows what would've come to that boy's head.**_" Slytherin continued.

Hermione was shell-shocked, literally because she didn't even hear her uncle ever talk to someone philosophically. He sounded like what her muggle parents used to sound like. It was so nostalgic, it made her skin crawl.

"_**I know what you're thinking. I'm a mean old coot, but I'm only trying to help. Listen. So many things might've changed in fifty years. The time period is literally not yieldable. It was much safer to put you back twenty years. We did everything right, so don't think otherwise. Just remember we're always watching you…**_" He finished, and she felt as if he went off of the connection going in on her head.

"Thanks…" She whispered. Her eyes had grown wide through the conversation and she was now leaned over, staring into nothing, as she listened to the emptiness in her head.

She didn't know whether to feel hurt or honoured. The words that Slytherin said were nearly spat out, but that was literally the nicest thing he had ever said to her, not to mention the wisest. She sighed deeply and put her want on her bed table.

Walking out the door she turned around. Her wand looked so lonely, and it held so many memories. It was beautifully crafted, ahem, by herself, and it just didn't look in place sitting on that counter. Also… There was a feeling inside of her, which urged her to take the wand with her. It was almost a promotion, as a voice in her head yelled to take it.

At the last moment, she ran back to her four-poster bed and grabbed her wand, and headed out the door. She decided to take some secret passage ways. Adrenaline was running wild inside of her and her head was a mess. She was rethinking everything that was said to her, all the major events that had taken place ever since they went back in time, Luna, Ginny, Quidditch, and to top that off she felt dizzy, and smacked into a wall.

The dizziness in her head made no attempt to subside, but the thoughts had immediately dispersed into their assigned folders, leaving her head nice and tidy, as she liked it. She felt so dizzy, she used the wall to get back to her feet. Eventually she glumly shook her head and blinked numerous times.

As soon as everything was clear in her eyes, she took a tentative step forward. She wobbled slightly, hence continued holding onto the wall and taking baby steps. She stopped, exhaling deeply and continued along the wall. James would kill her.

Right at that moment, she heard voices coming out of an empty classroom. She snorted and muttered to herself, while tenderly massaging her temples, "Unenthusiastic bookworms and non-Quidditch fans like I was in my school life." She passed by the room, and peeked in, seeing quite an odd group of boys and girls, each of which were from different houses. "Hmm… Weird kids."

Then a deep voice suddenly petrified her, making her stop in her tracks. "Well, what do you want me to do? I can't turn into a teacher or a snitch for that matter. Stop being so ignorant." The voice exclaimed. That was fine. But the fact that it was coming out of the room was not fine.

Hermione carefully starting backing up, lightly taking each, step like a careful cat during its hunt. Cautiously she peeked into the room with one eye and gasped at what she saw.

There were four kids standing in the room, like she had noticed. There was a boy in Gryffindor uniform standing on the desk with his hands on his hips in a commanding poise, making him look a little too sassy for a eleven or twelve-year-old. He had messy brown hair and glistening brown eyes. His physique almost showed his aristocracy as he glowered at his friends.

A couple of desks away there was a girl, wearing Hufflepuff uniform, sitting on top of one of the desks, swinging her legs back and forth and carelessly munching a fruit from her cornucopia. She had blond hair in two pigtails, and was just looking at her Gryffindor friend with a careless expression.

At the base of the Gryffindor's desk, there was a Slytherin boy, who was gloomily glaring up at the Gryffindor. The Slytherin had black hair in a careful wave on his forehead. He had glistening grey eyes which were shining in obvious anger and irritation. His hands were clenched in fists, as if at any moment he would just up and beat the other boy out of his mind.

The last girl was standing right in front of the boy on the desk with her arms crossed over her chest, with a book in her arms. Her nose was stuck up and she was glaring daggers, or so her dark eyes showed. She had long straight black hair, which tumbled down her back.

"Get off of there! You're not a child!" She suddenly shrieked, as Hermione's eyes widened.

"No! You _always_ tell me what to do!" The Gryffindor said stubbornly, and Hermione shook her head at how the boy fell under the stereotypical characteristics of his own house.

"Will you _please_ get off?" The Slytherin boy drawled, crossing his arms over his chest, so that his balled fists weren't seen. "We need to start getting along civilly, it's been too bloody long. Once in our lives we need to get along."

They started arguing again, and by now Hermione would've left them and headed toward the pitch, but the whole situation was extremely suspicious. There were kids from all four houses, not that she had something against house unity, during a Quidditch game, which was a perfect time to skip classes, while they were hanging around the castle. Plus the twelve year old boys already had their voices cracked.

"NO!" The Gryffindor boy boomed again. The Ravenclaw girl shrieked and yanked his ankle, making him fall from the table, producing a huge noise. The Slytherin boy's face lit up with excitement, but the Hufflepuff girl sighed, not amused.

"I HATE YOU!"

"I HATE YOU MORE!"

They both started shouting as they rolled in a mess on the floor, until finally the Gryffindor boy yanked the girl's hair, making her shriek and literally kick him in the face.

Taken back by the blow, the Gryffindor boy tumbled over, giving the girl a chance to find the precise moment to jump on his back pinning his shoulders with her feet, as the boy struggled underneath her. By this moment Hermione was simply mortified by the sight.

"SAY YOU'RE SORRY!" The girl shouted at him, bending as far as she could over to his ear, without loosening her grip on her victim. The Slytherin boy was jumping on the side lines, clapping his hands.

"NEVER!" The boy yelled in reply, and suddenly a completely unimaginable transformation happened. The boy suddenly grew in size, erupting hair all over his body, a tail and a mane.

Hermione's eyes nearly popped out. The boy was an animagus. And then it hit her. She groaned desperately.

All of the sudden, the lion let out quite a literal roar, deafening to everyone in the room, even Hermione. She swore that people from the Quidditch Pitch were able to hear that. Whimpering lightly and unclenching her ears, she peeked out from behind her wall to see what was going on.

The vociferous roar continued, as the girl lay on the floor in front of the lion. The Slytherin boy rolled his eyes at the tactic, making Hermione roll her own as well, but the Hufflepuff girl was the one who came into action. She grabbed her cornucopia and with spotless aim threw a couple of apples straight into the lion's maw, immediately stopping the source of the sound.

The lion animagus started choking, making the Ravenclaw girl laugh. What she didn't expect was for an orange to be aimed at her head. Hermione noticed that the Slytherin boy covered his mouth and continued to giggle behind everyone's back. The Ravenclaw grunted as another apple hit her and, causing her to start rubbing the back of her head.

At that moment, the lion turned into a man, sputtering and coughing on the ground, banging his chest with his fist. Hermione closed her eyes in vexation. Oh Godric. It was her father.

"WHY!" The Hufflepuff girl, obviously Helga Hufflepuff, was now towering over Godric and Rowena. Her father was in his own form, but on the ground he was obviously shorter than Hufflepuff. Her mother was still in her twelve-year old apparel, but was looking extremely irritated by everyone.

"Why what, my dearest Helga?" Godric smirked up at her, but the serious expression on Hufflepuff's face didn't change.

"Don't you try that trick with me, Godric." She pointed a strict finger at him. "It may work with my younger students sorted into Hufflepuff, but I will definitely _not_ start blushing for you. You tosser!"

"That's rubbish!" Godric cried incredulously, but was immediately silenced by Helga's glare, which was sharpening by the second. The usually cheery lady was now glaring daggers at her father, and Hermione was literally concerned for Godric's safety. After all those years of knowing that Helga may be so violent, why did he continue doing it? Three words – stubborn Gryffindor courage.

"This happens all the time, and now lately it's just embarrassing! We've been together for so long, why can't we think of some sort of peaceful method of communication? Every time we have guests over or when we're in an environment with children, you always make a mess!" Hufflepuff exclaimed, letting her arms flail in the air expressionistically. "When we had the girls over you made complete _fools _of yourselves! And we're in a school for Merlin's sake! A school is a specialization for children! We could've been seen!" She exclaimed again, nearly hitting Godric with her head.

Hermione exhaled, letting the whoosh of air cool her down and spoke up, rounding the corner. "Yeah, father, mother, aunt, uncle. You really should be more careful around here." She bounced slightly, putting her hands on her hips, as all the attention was redirected towards here.

"I mean, sure I know you guys, but if I was a student here, I'd think I lost my mind if I saw four kids from the same house interacting, and more likely I'd have to be put into St. Mungo's if I saw a twelve year old transforming into a lion. Then I think I'd be put into the mental institution division in St. Mungo's once they would discover that the students I saw didn't exist."

There was a pregnant pause. "It's nice to see you, Mione." Gryffindor spoke from the floor, giving her a pleasant nod.

"Yeah, you too, father." She said equally simply. She was now amongst the founders, who had turned back to adults, Rowena straightening her robes, Helga hiding the cornucopia behind a table and Salazar leaning on a desk with an un-washable smirk on his face. "So… I just talked to most of you, so why exactly are you here?"

"We were here to watch your first game, dear!" Helga Hufflepuff explained cheerfully, "We couldn't miss out on it! It's almost like a tradition to see how you do in your first game, especially since it _is_ Quidditch."

"And then," Salazar rolled his eyes are Rowena and Godric who were shooting daggers and were probably talking telepathically, "Before these two got into a fight, we couldn't decide how we were going to watch the match. Specifically with which disguises."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Which were the disguises you were considering?"

"Well," Helga scratched her head, as she tilted her head to the side, "Merlin, we didn't get to think of too many. We had the typical invisibility disguise, but Godric didn't think that would be original enough."

"I always thought that Gryffindors always lacked originality." Slytherin inquired sneakily and nonchalantly tapped his chin with a long elegant finger. "It's always the same story over and _over_ again. The good guy saves the day. Hoorah! And that good guy is usually a Gryffindor, like in _The Sleeping Sorceress._"

What? Hermione turned confused. "_The Sleeping Sorceress?_" she asked, as her mind rambled and her hitched gears started mechanically progress as she went through her mental library.

"Oh, you know, dear, there is a sorceress, daughter of one of the greatest sorcerers, who has a grudge held against her family by a dark vampiric or faerie queen. I can't quite remember which one thought…" Helga added on, muttering to herself as she displayed the story to Hermione. "Anyways, the sorceress accidentally falls under a curse and a powerful handsome Gryffindor comes and saves her on a thestral, overcoming the obstacles of death and Dark Magic." Helga finished, clasping her hands in front of her.

Hermione gapped, raising an eyebrow. "Isn't that called _The Sleeping Beauty_?"

Salazar stomped his foot impatiently, throwing Hermione a skeptical smirk. "Same story, different concepts. An overly ambitious Ravenclaw wizard, Charles Perrault, wanted to become famous in many areas of expertise. He tried to invent potions, create tools, and wrote stories. In the end he simply changed up _The Sleeping Sorceress_ and got it published in the muggle world."

"He translated many wizarding books and stories. Poor bloke thought." Gryffindor finally joined the conversation, "Nearly got burnt on a stake for almost exposing," Godric put air quotation marks around the word exposing, "the wizarding world. I can't quite remember if he—"

"—Yes, he did… Unfortunate actually…" Salazar remarked humourously, but it was obviously dark humour, at which the two ladies scolded.

"It never says how Charles Perrault died thought." Hermione pointed out accurately. "And he was originally born in France, not in England. Everything was published in French."

"Oh, my dear Hermione, you know how easy it is for a talented wizard to make fake documents, especially in that time era?" Godric asked her in a bored tone. He wasn't bored of her questions; he was just obviously bored by the topic of the author. "When the Ministry found out about Perrault's act, they were enraged. Sent everyone after him, but he kept on running. That's why it was so hard for him to find a job – because he was always found and nearly captured. Unfortunate death thought…" He shook his head, making Hermione look around the room in inquiry and pure interest.

"How did he die?" She asked slowly and carefully. By this moment, she was already sitting on the floor in front of Slytherin and Gryffindor with her legs crossed and hands in her lap.

"Fell off a cliff on the west coast of England. He was 'writing poetry'. Pity." Slytherin sighed, taking a quick glance at his nails.

"He was meeting a supposedly old acquaintance, who ended up being a seventy year old Auror. Not to mention, she was a woman, but a good woman nevertheless. Good old avadra kedavra'd him, she did." Godric stated sadly. "The celebrations went for weeks, but they couldn't get the books unpublished. I remember I attended one of those celebrations, I got really pissed on one of those—"

"In _any _case." Rowena interrupted him, giving Godric an uncomprehending glare, which made his raise his hands in defense and balanced himself on the back two legs of his stool. "We were just trying to figure out what to do. There were some… Unusual ideas."

Helga snorted clutching her stomach, trying not to laugh. "There is no such definition as 'usual' in our world nowadays. Your father," She started cheerfully, evidently concealing her chuckles, "Suggested that we all turn into one of the Quidditch balls."

"That would be painful." Hermione commented pointedly, but Helga shushed her.

"But then Salazar here, said," Helga chuckled, as Salazar for once smiled and started mouthing the words that Helga was saying, "Maybe you should be the bludger, so that Hermione can whoop your sorry arse."

Everyone burst out laughing, except for the reddening Gryffindor. Even Rowena was laughing so cheerfully, it made Hermione feel so much better.

When they were all done and finished, Hermione nodded and got up. "You can just go back to your previous disguises, you all looked fairly cute, until you started attacking each other like animals." She scoffed sarcastically turning around, but had just realized what time it was. "SHOOT!" she exclaimed.

Hermione swore she heard one of the founders starting to sing _Come Together_ by the Beatles, but she was in such a panic at that moment, she couldn't care less.

"What?" Rowena asked as quickly, noticing the worried eyes of her daughter.

"I need to get to the Quidditch Pitch! Potter will kill me!" She whined, getting her wand and her gloves off the floor. She carelessly shoved her wand onto the holster on her leg.

"Apparate." Slytherin suggested thoughtfully, as Hermione gave him an unforgiving glare.

"Your wards don't permit that, remember?" She asked sourly, as he marveled something on the basis of, 'oh yeah, I remember that part'.

"With us you can." Gryffindor smirked for a moment, outstretching his hand to his daughter. Hermione looked at him seriously, pondering whether or not he was pulling a prank on her, or doing something completely off topic, but she decided that the Gryffindor founder loved Quidditch too much.

"See you in the bleachers." Gryffindor winked at his fellow founders as Hermione grabbed onto his hand.

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**End of chapter 17… Whoah… That took a while. Sorry again for not updating in such a long time. **

**I think I liked this chapter, did you guys? Starting from Ginny's sassiness, to Lily's act? (; speaking of that, how did you like it?! I honestly felt that Lily needed to kick some ass in this chapter and she did fairly well. I bet poor James didn't expect that. Poor Sirius too. And Reggie, oh Reggie. **

**And McGonagall's reply! :D I had to do that, I just needed that part. That foreshadows some pranks—what who said that? When I was writing this I was like "Yeah McGonagall, woot woot!" **

**Also, what did you think about Slytherin, the Founders' acts, and the Muggle story thing? I spent like half an hour doing research on that guy. **

**Anyways, if you would review, that would be bloody brilliant and I would be honoured, pleased, and just taken back by your kindness! (: **

**Thank you so much, once again, my dear readers. **

**Until next time! ****Au revoir! ****Je vous aime beaucoup! (I love you guys alot, in French, yes, yes, fancy shmancy)xxxx **

**GirlxMarauder**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I only own the storyline, some of the characters and I solemnly swear that I will never own Harry Potter. Or that phrase. :P**

**Helloooooo readers and fellow writers. Sorry for my absence! Skiing was rather intense, and I had no time for writing, except for the long journey on car. My days practically went like: ski, eat poutine (for all Canadians who know what it is xxx the best), ski again, sleep, eat, watch movie, sleep. Yeah…**

**Sorry for the delay again. I am SUCH a horrible person. **

**But thank you for your reviews, favourites and follows! Means a lot thank youuuu: **** .nerd****, ****Angelus Draco****, ****Wallart plus Flinx equals war****, ****SattlerSister90****, and the Guest. I was kind of sad when so little people reviewed, but I love ALL of you stillxxx**

**Enjoy!**

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"**So don't fall in love now, there's too much to lose, if given a choice, then I'm begging you, choose to walk away, walk away, don't let her get you, I can't bare to see the same thing happen to you…" Terrible Things (Mayday Parade)**

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**Chapter 18**

WHOOSH!

"WATCH OUT THERE, WHITE!" Hermione heard James yell to her, as she snapped back into reality. The Quidditch match had just started as her mind swirled from the vivid colours of her imagination to the rough sport of Quidditch. And man… What could she say? The Slytherins were a violent team. Never had she ever had a first-hand Quidditch experience with them, but now she had to admit that it probably wouldn't be one of her favourite ones.

A bludger had just been wacked in her direction by either Bole or Pucey from the Slytherin team, but was intercepted by Remus. James had just scored and was celebrating, giving Hermione a moment to observe the Quiddtich Pitch and attempt to find the Founders. Unfortunately, shehad not spotted them yet, neither had she managed to tell her friends that the founders were watching, but that concerned her least at the moment.

"White, take on the left wing, I'll take right!" Hermione turned around at the voice and merely nodded to Logan, as she leaned forward on her broom and zoomed towards the Slytherin Quidditch posts.

Flint had just retrieved the Quaffle and was furiously slamming into everyone he saw. Hermione was just ready to intercept him when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw another player in Slytherin robes flying towards them. The only problem was that she realized it a little too late, and had only moments to brace herself for the blow.

Montague had just slammed into her right ride, making her grit her teeth and bump into Flint with her left shoulder blade, deliberately but slyly hitting him in the jaw.

The Slytherin howled in pain, but didn't loosen his grip on the Quaffle, making Hermione zoom by. From the bleachers all around them, she could hear cheers and boos, as Hermione halted to a stop, preventing herself from ramming into the bleachers and having to get dragged out of the game by Madam Pomfrey.

"What a nasty blow made by Montague! I say, Slytherins truly have their hideously sly ways to sabotage the opposite team! Come on, White, kick their—"

"Ms. Thorn! That is not required of—" Professor McGonagall's voice was dully heard through the mike, as she attempted to tame Luna.

"Alright, alright Professor. Flint passes to Montague, that slimy little—sorry Professor. Montague approaches the Gryffindor hoops and shoots, and—FANTASTIC SAVE MADE BY BROOKE! You go Elijah Brooke!"

After numerous stunts and shots, Gryffindor was leading 90-40 points, and Hermione just got her shoulder whipped by a beater's club. She muted her cry of anguish and gripped her aching muscle. The Slytherin took another shot at Gryffindor's hoops, but Elijah Brooke caught the Quaffle with the tips of his fingers.

Hermione rolled her shoulder back, attempting to massage the pain out of her shoulder, and decided to ignore it. She took a look at the Quidditch pitch and saw Potter's nerve racked expression of 'what-are-you-doing-there-get-your-bloody-arse-bac k-in-the-game'. Hermione grit her teeth and spat at the ground.

Immediately she broke into a speedy zoom on her broom, quick enough to grab the Quaffle, which was flying right towards her. Her head was completely in the game, with the constant breaks of Luna and McGonagall's voices.

"And White has the Quaffle. Whoah! Watch that bludger!" Hermione heard a whooshing sound coming straight towards her, but was lucky enough to have Sirius intercept it and whack it, and consequently chasing it down and looking for another target.

Hermione raced over to around mid-pitch. "Harper is gaining on White, but where are White's teammates?" Hermione heard Luna's warning voice, as she immediately looked to her sides and over top of her. Montague and Flint her approaching from both sides and it looked like they were using some sort of cornering method. If Harper was behind her, and the other two were around her, where would her team mates be?

Then she remembered the drill Potter had them run and knew exactly where they were. Making it an absolute shock to the opposing team, Hermione let go of her broom and, using her left hand to locate her target, she used her right arm to launch the Quaffle as high into the sky as she could, surprising herself with her own strength. She was already high up in the sky, but the Quaffle soared even higher and disappeared into the clouds.

She looked around and dived down, leaving the confused Slytherins to scurry around and look up at the sky in confusion and then down at Hermione, who was racing towards the Quidditch posts. All of the sudden, on the other side of the Pitch, near the Slytherin goalposts, James zoomed out of the cloud and passed the Quaffle back to Logan Bell, who whipped it into one of the hoops.

"And a spectacular goal made by Logan Bell! Of course, with the assistance of James Potter and Hermione White, with their brilliant teamwork, knowledge and skill."

Hermione was so into the game, she didn't even realize the blur of events happening around her. It seemed like they were playing for hours, but there was still no sign of the Snitch. Sticky dirty sweat was rolling down the sides of everyone's heads and it was visible that it was taking much longer than a usual match would.

In the end it was damn strange that all of these events were happening. So many players were close to being injured, or were already injured but were hiding all of their pain. James managed to almost knock Regulus off his broom in the middle of the game, when the poor Slytherin crossed his path as an attempt to block off the Gryffindor's shot.

As Slytherin managed to score another goal, James grabbed the Quaffle and once again started making his way up the pitch. He passed to Hermione, who rebounded it to Logan on the other side. Bell raced up to the hoops, but was cruelly rammed into by Bole, causing the Quaffle to fly out of his hands.

James was too far away, and Hermione understood that it was her chance to get it. She dove after it, narrowly avoiding an intended bludger from Bole or Pucey. A flash of green caught the corner of her eye, making her automatically turn her head, a Quidditch antic that James would scold all the time.

She couldn't make out who it was, because immediately, she grabbed onto the Quaffle with both hands and threw it backwards as far and hard as she could. At that same moment, she felt her broom being either tugged or pushed, for only moments later she was spinning down toward the ground.

Hermione's heart was beating so fast, she couldn't control herself, and it seemed like she couldn't control her broom either. She grit her teeth and gripped her broom as hard as she could, and pulled back roughly.

The first reaction that came to her was to shut her eyes, and so she did, waiting for the falling and spinning feeling to proceed. She was going to crash and her broom was going to tear apart in a billion pieces, leaving her a splintered mess and probably a victim of Madam Pomfrey for three months.

But then… She noticed that she wasn't falling. She was a mere ten meters away from the ground and she had stopped in her spot, her broom hovering peacefully.

She exhaled so loudly, she swore anyone from the Forbidden Forest could hear her but she was too overwhelmed to care. She threw her head back and closed her eyes for only a few seconds because soon she had to return to the game.

Just as she thanked Merlin, although it would probably be more reasonable to thank Godric or one of the founders, she turned her broom, about to head up to the Quidditch Pitch, when she heard muffled whispers.

She didn't know how her ear picked up the sound, but surely enough there was someone talking. She paused quietly and turned her broom back around. At the entrance of the Forbidden Forest there were a couple of tall shadowed figures.

One was wearing an unmistakable Hogwarts uniform, smartly topped with a cloak, making her incapable of recognizing neither their face nor any of their features. The second was wearing an identical black cloak, with blue robes underneath. The third was dressed in worn dirty clothes, ripped up in different places. From where she was, Hermione distinguished that it was a man, who had a really muscular body, as well as very shaggy hair. And it was not Sirius-shaggy, but actual "shaggy" as if he had slept outdoors in the dirt and rain for a couple of nights.

"When will we have our next meeting?"

"Shush, someone might hear you."

"They're all at a Quidditch Match, there's no way in hell they will hear you."

"Let's get along, shall we? I have a strange feeling about this."

"Yes, we can talk more next time, when we're secluded."

"So when are we meeting next?"

"I heard there's going to be a ball soon enough. I heard Dumbledore and McGonagall talking about it for a while. Maybe we can do it that night?"

"I don't think that's the best idea."

"Why not?"

"Who knows, maybe there're some hopeless romantics planning to lure some birds into the forest. And it's too long from now."

"I don't think that's—"

Hermione's eavesdropping was interrupted by a disrupting sound heading from the Quidditch Pitch, which caused her to dramatically swerve back on her broom. But when she turned back around, mysterious strangers were already gone. It was as if they fell through the ground and had disappeared off the face of the Earth.

"Maybe I was just hallucinating." She thought, as she leaned forward on her broom and reentered the game, which was flying by extremely roughly.

"The snitch! The snitch!" Hermione heard everyone shouting and true enough, something gold just zoomed past her ear and all she could see were two flashes – one of green and silver, and a following of red and gold.

Although the game escalated much quicker from the point, the game was as rough as it ever was. Everyone was shoving, getting penalties, hitting bludgers, dodging, and attempting to score. But Hermione still couldn't get the people at the Forbidden Forest out of her head. There was something disturbing about it, which made her glance back multiple times at the location they once stood.

Hermione gripped the Quaffle under her arm and had just shot at the net, scoring a clean and untouched goal, when she heard a scream and uneven inevitable cursing coming from the middle of the pitch.

"Oh no!" Hermione gasped, as she recognized the falling object as her friend, Ginny Evergreen.

"AN UNGENTELMENLY PUSH MADE BY BLACK, AND WE HAVE EVERGREEN TUMBLING TOWARD THE GROUND. YOU LITTLE SHIT, BLACK!" Luna's voice hollered from the stands, as boos were heard, and even McGonagall didn't make an effort to stop Luna's vulgar comments.

A smudge of red was falling towards the ground, flailing its arms at a rapid pace, but this meant that if Ginny hit the ground without her broom, she would be strangled by Pomfrey, letting Black and the Slytherins win the 150 points, therefore casting a lead over top Gryffindor.

"Time is not going to stop itself…" A sing-song voice sounded out in Hermione's head as a wake-up call, as she immediately leaned towards Ginny's location and her broom went full speed as fast as it could towards the tumbling girl.

But there wasn't enough time. Ginny was falling much too fast. Oh, what to do? What to do? If only she was closer and had passed the Quaffle to James or Logan, she would've had enough time for it. But even then, she probably wouldn't have been able to…

Some gears suddenly clicked in her head and memories swam up to the surface of her mind!

…_Harry was falling, as a hundred dementors surrounded him from all sides, greedily yearning to suck out his soul. Hermione covered her mouth with her hands, as she barely made out Harry's lifeless figure falling through the sky._

"_Aresto Momentum!" a loud and deep voice was suddenly heard from the teachers' stands…_

Hermione blinked, as she continued flying towards Ginny, who was falling faster and faster.

…"_YOUR WAND, HARRY! YOUR WAND!" she shouted desperately in the direction of her friend, about to get turned into a roasted marshmallow._

_It seemed like he got the memo, as he suddenly shouted "Accio Firebolt!"…_

Another millisecond passed by. Hermione blinked.

…"_You can just go back to your previous disguises, you all looked fairly cute, until you started attacking each other like animals." She scoffed sarcastically turning around, but had just realized what time it was. "SHOOT!" she exclaimed._

_Hermione swore she heard one of the founders starting to sing Come Together by the Beatles, but she was in such a panic at that moment, she couldn't care less. _

"_What?" Rowena asked as quickly, noticing the worried eyes of her daughter. _

"_I need to get to the Quidditch Pitch! Potter will kill me!" She whined, getting her wand and her gloves off the floor. She carelessly shoved her wand onto the holster on her leg…_

_She carelessly shoved her wand onto the holster on her leg…_

"Damn it!" Hermione shouted roughly, bringing her broom to a halt and with trembling fingers yanked her wand from underneath her robes. Not even understanding her own actions, for her hand was already automatically moving, she shouted the first spell that came to mind. "_Aresto Momentum!_" and literally jabbed her wand at Ginny, who froze in mid-air.

With a sigh of relief, Hermione dove underneath her friend, grabbed her, and immediately pulled her onto her own broom.

"Nice fall, Evergreen." Hermione smirked in her friend's ear, who tossed her head around.

"Oh, shut up, White. Get me to my broom, so that I can catch that snitch." The redhead snarled, as Hermione raised her eyebrow, but in agreement flicked her wand, summoning Ginny's broom.

"I can't believe Black did that!" Hermione muttered to Ginny, who was just about to jump.

"He didn't!" Ginny shouted back, as Hermione's jaw dropped in disbelief. "I'll tell you later! I gotta kick some butt!" Ginny shouted, and in one second she was gone.

~OoOoO~

"GRYFFINDOR! GRYFFINDOR! GRYFFINDOR! GYRFFINDOR!" continuous joyful cheers and shouts were heard from all over the pitch. Ginny had just caught the snitch and Gryffindor won 310-100 against Slytherin and the celebrations were going to be crazy. The field and pitch was crazy. Even the professors were passing around galleons.

Never had she even seen the school so excited and enthusiastic. James was now getting carried on the whole house of Gryffindor's arms, while the others were receiving congratulations and claps on the back.

A tremendous feast was bound to be prepared for dinner, hence everyone made their way to get changed and tidied up. Whispers were already going around school that after dinner there would be a party in the Gryffindor Common Room. If Hermione wasn't mistaken, she already saw the Marauders sneaking off to Hogsmeade.

Shaking her head and laughing lightly to herself, Hermione took off her dirty clothes and put on some new clean robes, after emerging from the shower.

When Ginny was ready, after probably the longest wait Hermione had to sit through, even causing Luna to come and check the problem, Hermione looped her arms through theirs and they skipped together through the halls.

"Well, first win of the season goes to Gryffindor House!" Luna boomed in her commentator voice, making her two friends smile.

"The Slytherins were pretty rough. I thought they'd loosen up after Lily's little kiss." Hermione smirked cheerfully, receiving well-deserved chortles from her two friends.

"I think Reggie did." Ginny shrugged in agreement, letting a little smile pass her lips, as she ran her free hand through her newly-washed red hair, which was shining in the light of the corridors, and would even distract he most talented concentrated student or professor.

"That little Slimy git!" Luna surprised the two girls with her harsh words, "I can't believe he knocked you off your broom!" she exclaimed.

Ginny shook her head, as Luna's eyes widened in disbelief. "He didn't though…"

Both Luna and Hermione gasped, even though Hermione knew this news from before. It still shocked her that the Slytherin didn't push the girl. Before any of the girls were able to protest, Ginny continued on with her story.

"He was shocked when I fell." Ginny continued her explanation, smacking her lips and shaking her head. "He didn't mean to knock me off. He even tried to grab on to me to prevent me from falling, I could feel his grip on my shoulder."

"What if he was trying to push you off?" Luna suggested.

Ginny glared at her friend. "He didn't. I wear, someone confounded my broom, or cast some sort of jinx or curse, which knocked me off my broom." Her frown turned into a cheeky smirk as she nudged Hermione in the ribs. "But in any case, I was saved by my fair prince, who took so much time to save me and get her bloody arse over to help me."

Hermione rolled her eyes and leaned her head closer towards Ginny. "Or… I could've just let you fall."

"You wouldn't!" Ginny exclaimed in mock shock, as she clutched her heart.

"I'm an undercover mysterious Slytherin, didn't you know that?" Hermione winked at her friend mysteriously, who chuckled in reply, only Luna didn't smile. She was busy thinking and analyzing all that happened.

There was a small silence between the three of them.

"The Slytherins… Were acting weird. And it was also odd that the snitch didn't get released or didn't appear for such a long time." Luna continued rambling, causing Ginny and Hermione to exchange looks… There was something fishy about the whole situation. There were just loose string, and dots that they had to connect.

Then Hermione remember what had happened right before Ginny fell. She gasped.

"Listen!" Hermione whispered to her friends, turning them around and stopping them in the middle of the hall. She glanced forward and back to check if someone was coming, and continued in a hushed and anxious tone. "Right before Ginny was jinxed, I had a little flip and I was sent flying back towards the Slytherin goal posts, right when I passed the Quaffle to James or Logan."

"Yeah, that was a little rough…" Luna commentated, as Hermione shushed her seriously, tremendously wanting to continue with her story.

"There were three people. I swear, the details are fuzzy right now, but from what I can tell, one was a student, I don't know who the second was, but the third one literally looked like a Huntsman." Luna and Ginny let out synchronized laughs, as Hermione glared at them in shock. "Why are you laughing? This isn't funny!"

"I think you must've been hallucinating!" Ginny covered her face and continued laughing, as Luna nodded in comprehension.

"Maybe it wasn't a huntsman, maybe it was like a wood sprit or something."

Hermione grit her teeth. Her friends making fun of her wasn't helping the situation at all. She scowled and started walking away.

Her two friends looked after her and sighed. They caught up and gave Hermione one-armed hugs, pulling her in close, but Hermione wasn't in the mood for any of that. Soon enough, they were in the Great Hall, earning congratulations from teachers and students, and finally digging in and satisfying their stomachs with enough food needed for a decade.

~OoOoO~

"Just on an ending note, for all our students!" Dumbledore had gotten up and stood on his usual spot in front of the professors' tables. "May I have your attention please! Yes, yes, wonderful match as always."

Everyone was already so satisfied with dinner, no one even wanted to look at food, and Hermione was scared for her well being of what awaited them in the Gryffindor Common Room. The parties were crazy, and she didn't exactly know what to expect from the Marauders, since they _were _mischievous trouble-makers.

"As a celebration of this excellent Quidditch match, the first one of the season, I would like to inform the student body and staff of an important message, regarding Saturdays." Excited chatter erupted through the hall, for everyone knew what to expect from Dumbledore.

"As of tomorrow, Hogsmeade village will be open for public student use, only for those who have gotten their permission forms signed. Once again, I repeat, Hogsmeade will be open to all students third year and above with their Hogsmeade Permission forms signed. Tomorrow at ten in the Main Hall, students will be escorted to Hogsmeade."

By this time, no one was listening but discussing their plans on what to buy, what to get, what they want, etc. But Hermione could tell from the gleaming in Dumbledore's eyes, that the old man wasn't done yet and that he still had more exciting news to follow.

"But that is not all." Those simply words were the magic ones which literally hushed down the students as they all waited in excitement for the next announcement, which was more than guaranteed to be even more thrilling than the previous. His words simply gushed excitement.

"There will be a Ball held on the 19th of November, a mere month from now! It's called the Fall Ball and it is going to be hosted by our Head Boy, James Potter and Head Girl, Lily Evans, with the help of the prefects. Although it may seem like an awkward time period for a Ball, I believe in having fun, whatever the occasion may be." Dumbledore finished, sending a mysterious aura and shivers down everyone's backs. "Now, goodnight everyone. Sleep tight. At least, the greater part of you." He said with a suggestive, amused glance towards the Gryffindor table.

A silence proceeded for a good five seconds.

"PARTY AT GRYFFINDOR HOUSE!" Sirius and James shouted out, clapping their hands and running out of the hall.

Everyone chuckled and laughed, and started heading back to their dorms, getting ready for a good tight sleep, except the Gryffindors of course… They were in for a long night.

"Hey, Remus!" Hermione exclaimed, catching up with her friend, who was walking alone, but it didn't seem like he minded the company, for a smile arose on his face. Hermione was in no mood to talk to Ginny and Luna, and Lily had just run off after James to stop him from causing mischief, but that would probably never be prevented.

"Hey Hermione." He smiled warmly, and outstretched his hand. "Good game, today."

Hermione nodded cheerfully and shook it. "Yeah, it was really fun. The Slytherins were kind of rough, but I guess I'll have to get used to it over time."

"Yes, and you'll learn how to dodge them sooner or later. And Madam Pomfrey as well." Remus chuckled lightly, looking over the crowds, as if searching for someone. Hermione raised an eyebrow. "By the end, a shove in the shoulder or a blow to the stomach doesn't hurt too much, you know. You get pushed around so many times, you start to ignore the pain." He added on.

Reconsidering what Remus had just said, Hermione shoved him playfully, and he shoved her back, pushing her into the railing. "Heyy!" She exclaimed, laughing. "How about you, Mr. Lupin, have you ever been caught by Madam Pomfrey and got sent to the hospital?"

Judging by Remus' expression, there was a long story from that. The way he paled didn't suggest that he was taken in only during the Full Moon period, but Madam Pomfrey checked up everyone she had in her reach.

"Don't even remind me…" Remus shuddered visibly, causing Hermione snort, as they started climbing up the stairs. "I remember… There was once when Sirius wanted to practice shooting at targets during Quidditch Practice last year, or in fifth year, and he decided to whack the bludger straight into my arm." Hermione raised her eyebrow.

"Oh my." She shook her head. "You must be quite a veteran, while hanging around those two."

"Tell me about it." Remus agreed, squinting as if trying to remember the rest of the story. "I remember that Sirius was kicked off the team until I was allowed on. That was probably the most James had ever been pissed in his life, even though he wasn't even captain."

"That prat went and ratted me out." A voice was heard from behind them, which nearly made Hermione jump out of her shoes. When she turned around she met herself staring into fathomless grey eyes and a cocky handsome face. "I thought that I could fix it with a quick spell, but James, that dolt, decided to go and tell on me. We were out for how long?" Sirius asked Remus, as the other scratched his head in thought.

"Two to four weeks?" Remus added suggestively.

"That's right. Even though I could've fixed it in a minute." Sirius grumbled pushing Remus aside playfully and let his arm drop on Hermione's shoulder, as Remus muttered something about Sirius being a dolt and strayed behind, continuously looking for someone.

Hermione shrugged as they kept on walking. "How was your first Quidditch match, Mione? Not too rough, I hope?" Sirius drawled playfully, letting his eyes wander on Hermione's mussed hair, and receiving a jab in the stomach, leaving him to groan.

"It was fine Sirius." Hermione brushed off her hands against her robes and crossed them over her chest. "I've been through much worse." She elongated the word 'much' just for emphasis, since it was more than true, but it didn't seem like Sirius believed her. He kept on figuratively dancing around her in circles.

"Oh? Is that so?" He asked cockily.

"Yes, in fact it is."

"Prove it." He challenged her. Hermione raised an eyebrow and let a little rare smirk play on her lips.

"Do you want me to pull a Lily?" She laughed, as Sirius paled, looking around.

"I don't see any Slytherin siblings around here, so I think we'd be fine right now. I don't exactly know anyone with a Slytherin sibling, except for myself." Sirius ruffled his eyebrow and continued walking up the stairs.

"You mean you don't know anyone with an _attractive_ Slytherin sibling, except for your brother." Hermione added on cheerfully, more than sure that he didn't hear what she just said.

"Yes, hmm… You're right." After a long pause, Sirius turned roughly to Hermione, his eyes wide and wild. "You think my brother's attractive?"

"Of course he is what are you talking about?" Hermione asked incredulously, flicking her hair back, making Sirius' jaw drop.

"So you think I'm attractive?" Sirius asked her cheekily, finally coming to the realization and the deeper meaning of what she said.

Hermione blushed and averted her eyes. "Why would you say so? I never said that you were attractive. I only said that your brother was." She rambled on, but that didn't knock Sirius off because he was already at a zooming start and heading on the right track.

"But weren't you the one who said that my brother and I look extremely like each other?" Sirius continued inquiring, and it seemed like these minutes were the longest and hardest in her life. Hermione scoffed and continued on.

"Everyone says that."

"But you said that too, in the beginning of the year."

"Maybe, maybe not." Hermione strayed away from the conversation, but her arm was gripped by Sirius to hard, it made her yelp.

"Admit it." Sirius said gruffly, his eyes not even happy. They were sad and were almost begging for her to say it. He looked like a lost puppy, but that was why most girls were lost in his charm and fell for him so easily.

"You're too stuck up for me to admit to your face that you're attractive. You need to deflate your ego some and then maybe I'll admit something to you." Hermione scoffed, trying to pull him along, but he was keeping her back.

Sirius had stopped and he was so close to her face right now. Oh Merlin. What was she going to do? Hermione was lost in his eyes, as his face descended closer to hers until they were a single movement away. Hermione could feel his warm chocolate-scented breath on her lips.

His lips barely moved, but she heard his words extremely clear. "Would you like to go to the ball wit—"

"—SIRIUS, MATE! COME ALONG, WE HAVE TO GET EVERYONE ASSEMBLED."

Automatically, Sirius and Hermione backed away from each other. Hermione was red in the face, and Sirius looked extremely ticked off that James had just interrupted him. That was the closest he ever got to talking civilly with the witch and now the moment was ruined.

"Stop snogging your birds and let's go!" James shoved through the crowd, grabbing Sirius by the arm, completely ignoring the fact that it was _Hermione_ standing beside Sirius and with a miserable look from Sirius, the two had disappeared among the crowd.

Hermione gripped her head with one hand and touched her lips with her slender fingers. They were still warm and extremely sensitive from the near-kiss she had just experienced. Oh Godric, what was she going to do? This was wrong! She couldn't fall for Sirius! It was physically and socially impossible.

What was she going to do?

She walked into the Gryffindor Common Room, where everyone was crowded around.

"SILENCE! SILENCE!" She heard a source of sound coming from somewhere over the crowd, but couldn't quite tell where it was coming from.

"Hell, I think you should use the spell." Remus' voice sounded out.

"I hate that spell!" Sirius groaned frustrated, probably still not over what had almost happened a mere few minutes ago.

"It's necessary. _Sonorus_. SILENCE!" James' voice boomed through the whole Common Room, causing everyone to grip their ears and accidentally drop everything they were holding, which ranged from flags, to shirts, to dirty laundry, to books and even food and drink.

"Now that you're listening, I would like to have all the members of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team on the table," James cleared an area in the center of a room and muttered a spell, conjuring a large platform, "or the platform, if you must."

Muttered chatter spread across the room, as people pushed and shoved each other, trying to get closer to the front. Hermione had no clue what was going on, but she did what James said. Everyone else seemed to have an idea of what was happening, since they had to endure a maximum of six years with the Marauders.

"Move out, move out, Hermione White and Ginny Evergreen are coming through." Someone hollered, as Hermione grinned and recognized it to be Ginny, who grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the front, offering her a helping hand to get on the platform.

Everyone was lined up there – John Summers, Shania Raimer, Jamie Hartnell, Elijah Brooke, Matt and Jay Stiller, Logan, James, Sirius, Remus, and finally Ginny and Hermione. James looked from one side to the other, checking that everyone was there.

"We're missing one person. We have eleven, we're supposed to have twelve." James grumbled, looking around and counting one more time.

"Potter, are you blind? There're twelve!" Someone from the crowd yelled, earning laughs and cheers, as James narrowed his eyes. "You didn't count yourself, you dolt!"

"I am _not_ blind. Whoever said that is getting 10 points from Gryffindor for offending the Head Boy." He cried cockily, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh yeah?" Hermione couldn't completely make out who it was, because there were so many people there, but someone pushed through the crowd and stood right before James. A laughing fit came over the Quidditch team. Each person attempted to shut their mouths. "Even if it's the Head Girl?" Lily smirked, looking up at James completely unfazed.

James looked utterly shocked, he didn't even move.

"Didn't recognize your Lily-flower's voice did you?" Lily asked him, innocently raising her eyebrows. Sirius took that chance to get back at James and shove him in the side, deliberately cutting him off and proceeding with the speech.

"Lily are you—"

"What James was trying to say," Sirius coughed, pounding his own chest, then roughly hitting James on the shoulder, "was that we had an excellent match today, especially since Slytherin is our biggest competitor, and we kicked their sorry arses. James. Continue please." Sirius smiled cruelly, as James glared and continued awkwardly.

"Yes, umm… As Sirius said, we played amazingly today, especially against Slytherin. And even though some didn't get as much playing time as the others, I guarantee that next game I will try to split it up evenly. When I call your name and say how awesome you did, go get a drink and get drunk for the night… I mean, celebrate." James corrected himself cheekily, slowly returning back to his Marauder-esque habits.

"So, starting from the right. My right, your left, because I'm always right." James sneered gesturing to his right, nearly smacking someone in the face. "John Summers. Amazing chaser with a super cool tan, after traveling to _Italia_ in the summer. Hah, Summers? Get that pun?" James chortled, receiving some grins. "Good job, Summers, you'll be played more next game against Hufflepuff, bunch of duffers." Everyone cheered as John shook his head and jumped off the platform.

"Shania Raimer, who's also an awesome Chaser. obviously not as great as me, but great enough to get on the team. Good job, Raimer, you'll play more next time." Everyone rolled their eyes at James' antics, but nevertheless everyone cheered as Shania cheerfully climbed off and proceeded to talk to her friends.

"Jamie Hartnell, probably the only girl keeper I have ever seen in my life, but she's pretty great. So any time Brooke gets a whack in the head, she'll be the one doing just as well as he does." Cheers proceeded, as Brooke glared at James, who tossed him a wink.

"Then, to my favourite keeper Elijah Brooke, my curly-haired companion, who blocked those Slytherins like there was no beginning. And even though he let some shots in, we can work on that, or else he's gonna be running laps. Good job Brooke, you did well…" James patted him on the back, as everyone cheered once again, and Brooke stuck up his middle finger at James before chortling and jumping off the platform.

"Arse." James muttered. "Next we have Matt and Jay. Jay and Matt. Whichever, whatever, I still can't really differentiate you, and I have a feeling that the only way I can is to turn one of your purple and the other green, but I still have a suspicion that you will still somehow trick me." James shook his head. "Even though you played five minutes only, you did fairly well. I was expecting for you two to chase each other around like dunderheads. Good job, lads, keep up the great play." He clapped, as everyone cheered and the twins grinned at each other and high-fived, jumping off and proceeding to the food table.

"Logan Bell. Well, what can I say, you're pretty awesome. I think that you're amazing and you just need to keep up the great work. Even though your passes are somewhat sloppy, but hey, no one's perfect right?" James said kindly, and Hermione swore that was the first time she ever saw James like that. Everyone seemed to be in shock, so James cleared his throat and clapped Logan on the back, "Well done, mate." And the confused smile on Bell's face turned into an actual one, as he proceeded to his friends.

"Now, we have Ms. Evergreen," James turned to his left and gestured towards Ginny. "Who has fiery red hair and is a fiery red and gold seeker. Amazing job today, and good recovery after that little fall of yours."

"I swear, when I get my hands on my brother I will—" Sirius started, but was cut off by James.

"You were amazing, Evergreen, keep up the fantastic work." James grinned, as Ginny nodded happily and walked jumped off.

"Ms. White." James looked towards Hermione critically, automatically making her self-conscious. It seemed like James had that effect on everyone, so she just had to get used to that. "Great game today. This was Hermione and Ginny's first actual Quidditch game, so I think that they both did incredibly well, and whoever taught her was a great instructor and teacher. Keep it up!" James kindly clapped Hermione on the shoulder, as she grinned and climbed off, joining Ginny on ground level.

"Of course, that's not all." James stopped everyone from whatever they were doing, causing them to roll their eyes. "There's also the three of us, but I'm not planning to publically say what these two gits did wrong or right, because I can just kick their arses afterwards. And I have to—"

"MINNIE!" Sirius cried out from where he was standing, and opened his arms as wide as he could. As a result everyone turned around and looked toward the door, where, surely enough, Professor McGonagall was standing in a tartan dress robe, with her hair braided back. She had her glasses on and a strict look on her face. "WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE TO OUR HUMBLE ABODE?"

"Actually, Black, I am the head of House, to I have more right than any of you to be here." Professor McGonagall spat, earning jeers from fellow Gryffindors.

"Is there anything wrong, Professor?" Lily approached their Head of House, and straightened out.

"No, on the contrary, Ms. Evans. I was passing by and I was wondering why it was so quiet. Usually any deaf or physically disabled person can hear your chatter from multiple floors below." Professor McGonagall stated sternly, earning laughs.

"Don't worry Professor." Lily assured her playfully, "It's all starting. Potter had to finish his gallant and gentlemanly speech he started."

There was a long pause, and McGonagall pursed her lips. "I hope you will be much quieter this time. People are trying to sleep." She gave them a strict nod and disappeared behind the portrait, and everyone burst into laughter.

"That usually doesn't happen often, I'm guessing?" Hermione asked one of the Gryffindors standing next to her, as they laughed.

"Never."

"Bloody hell. Well, we were in for quite a shock…" James stated awkwardly, but the grin hadn't vanished off his face. "I'd like to thank our amazing commentator, Luna Thorn, for standing up to Professor McGonagall and commentating everything that had happened. You're pretty great." Luna nodded in thanks.

"So…" Sirius said. "LET'S PARTY!"

Food and drinks were distributed all around, and music was blaring. Everyone was dancing, socializing and laughing, except for a couple hard-working individuals Hermione thought resembled herself in her early years, who were attempting to do work and headed off to bed half an hour after the party started.

The clock had already struck eleven, but no one wanted to leave, although it was hot and loud. By the end, Hermione felt like she needed some air and this resulted in her leaving towards the Astronomy Tower.

It was a cool, but pleasant night, which didn't exactly correspond to the typical British October weather. Nevertheless it was nice. Hermione walked up the staircase to the Astronomy Tower, as she gripped the cold metal, contrasting against her hot soft skin. She looked into the far. The breeze was swaying overtop the calm Black Lake. The forest rustled cheerfully, almost inviting anyone who passed by to enter, regardless of the unknown mysterious creatures there.

Hermione reached the top of the Astronomy Tower and walked around in a circle, enjoying the 360 panoramic view she was given. On one side she saw the Whomping Willow, which was evidently connected to the Shrieking Shack. Beyond the haunted building, little lights, resembling dim little candles, wavered in the far. Hogsmeade Village was still going on cheerful, even during the night.

Standing in the middle of the Astronomy Tower brought back such feelings. It was like she had sunk down into one of Harry's memories and was standing on the spot where Draco once stood, about to kill Dumbledore. Harry often had sleepless nights, when he had to share all his feelings and emotions with someone. One day after the war, he showed Hermione and Ron all his memories and it pained his friends to believe that Harry had to walk around with such a dread and such hardness on his heart.

That's why Harry had changed so much starting from their fifth year. Being a part of Voldemort must've been awful. But having Voldemort be a part of you must've been worse. Much worse. It chilled Hermione's blood to think how she would've dealt with being attached to the most evil person in the world: having to share their emotions and soul. It was simply sickening.

All of the sudden, there was a shrill and strange shriek, one almost resembling a monstrous bird, and a cloud of black rose from the Forbidden Forrest. They looked like birds but were too large. Hermione smiled sadly. Thestrals.

"They're beautiful." She sighed to herself, as she leaned over the railing to get a better glimpse at them.

"They are." A voice sounded from behind her. Hermione turned around and gasped to see Dumbledore standing a couple of meters away from her.

"Professor Dumbledore!" She exclaimed, honestly surprised, since Dumbledore was the last person she was expecting to see at that moment.

"Thestrals are magical creatures." Dumbledore continued thoughtfully, as he walked towards Hermione with such ease, it wasn't even imaginable. "Extremely misunderstood, yet one of the most clever known to wizard-kind. Some find them disgusting. Others can't understand their existence."

Hermione swallowed sadly. Her mood had somehow managed to tumble downhill. "Have you ever come in contact with one, sir?"

Dumbledore gave his signature mysterious smile and chuckled. "Oh, yes. Yes, I have. There have been many times when I have encountered these magical creatures. They say the greater you have experienced, the more they are connected to you."

A sudden emptiness filled Hermione's soul. She hadn't been able to see then when she first mounted one, and she felt extremely scared. But now, she could see that these creatures were just as unfortunate and misunderstood as she was. They were one of a kind.

When returning back to Hogwarts after the Ministry of Magic Attack, Hermione wandered around the lake and finally saw one. They didn't cause any reaction on her, but their peacefulness and their innocence scared her. She thought that they would be intimidating and somewhat horrifying, but they were not. They were just different.

After so many mixed feelings, Hermione could understand why Luna and Harry felt so much when they were around the Thestrals. They were at home. Upon seeing a Thestral, as Luna would describe, all the memories of your beloveds would emerge from the deep secluded part of your mind, which you have once tried to lock away.

"I have no words. If only everyone knew what kind of a world was before them, I just…" Hermione choked on her own words. She wasn't able to continue. "So many deaths and so much sadness. Some people are just so innocent, but actually, we're all so different and discriminated in such harsh ways."

"We are." Dumbledore nodded. "I completely agree with you, Ms. White. At one point of our lives, we may think that we are the same as someone and that there will never be a boundary between us, but there always will be. There are small little things that no one sees that in the end make the whole difference in the world."

All Hermione could do was nod. Dumbledore was right. No one was the same. Everyone had their fates laid out and hidden. Life was cruel. It might have been indirectly cruel to some, but others got the full blow of it. Children didn't know what was awaiting them. The world was a cruel, selfish thing.

"Even though we do have our lives planned for us, Ms. White, that doesn't have to stop us from trying harder. Nor the world, nor the fates, nor life likes fighters, but fighters are the ones who get somewhere. Fighters are the ones who go against fate and fight for their lives, so that they somehow get somewhere. Yet, as much as you try, something will always be wrong. We cannot change the natural cycle we have been given." Dumbledore marveled, his voice so smooth, it would put a baby to sleep.

Hermione turned, but realized that Dumbledore was no longer beside her, and was smoothly gliding away. "Professor!" She called after him, almost desperate for his presence. The Headmaster stopped and slowly turned. "Are you off?"

"Yes, Ms. White. I must be going. Although the night seems like the end, there are yet so many things yet to be discovered."

And with that, Professor Dumbledore disappeared into the shadows.

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**Okay… Yeah, intense chapter. That last part took a long while to write, but I think I nailed it! (: **

**Many mysteries and interesting events planned for the future, specially for my special enthusiastic readers. Oh I just wish I had more time and faster fingers. **

**Thank you for reading, I really hope you liked it! Review please, tell me what I did good and bad, what your favourite part was, predictions for future chapters… anything like that (: it's an actual pleasure reading all of your reviews. They make me happy!xxx**

**Thank you once again, oh gallant readers!**

**Love all around xxxxxx**

**GirlxMarauder**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I miserably admit that I don't own Harry Potter and that J.K. Rowling is a magnificent creature, who built my life. **

**Merlin, I am sorry for the delay. I'm trying, I really am. **

**Hellooooooo guys, what's good and going? The last couple of days I've been caught up in learning various songs on the piano, such as Terrible Things and Concerning Hobbits from LOTR. I know, I know, I'm a humungous nerd, but I'm trying to learn the LOTR theme song for my best friend, who is obsessed with the series. And her birthday is in approximately two weeks… Yiykesssssss…**

**I am extremely excited and I know that this is practically the worst time to upload a chapter, since it's Sunday evening, but at least I'm not delaying the update even more right?**

**Thank youuu to my beautiful Potterheads who favourited, reviewed and followed my story!x you're the best, I love you. Special thanks to: **** .nerd****, ****TS17isme****, ****moonlight10060****, ****SincerelyYourSecret****, ****hummingpetal****, ****lovinxoxo****, ****casper22****, ****MrsPotterDrEw****, ****HarryPotterFanFictionWriter****, ****HarmonyxPotterhead****, ****oabf45****. You make my life. **

**Oh and just before I start this chapter, I forgot to note that for the previous chapter, the last part with Hermione and Dumbledore, I was listening to "Lily's Theme", so if you go back and play it while reading, it will have a very strong effect.**

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"**Is there a right way for being strong? Feels like I'm doing things all wrong, still I'm here just holding on, confess my heart and forgive my wrongs." Roger Rabbit (Sleeping with Sirens)**

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**Chapter 19**

Hermione was simply baffled. She couldn't move a muscle. Everything that Dumbledore had just said to her was so deep and so important; her mind couldn't absorb everything that had just occurred. She was missing his presence and now she thoroughly understood why Harry was so desperate to see him all the time. He was such a wonder of a man, and curiosity killed her inside out to decode his hidden messages.

A sudden coldness drew upon her, and Hermione felt empty, like the happiness in her soul had just been swept away by the wind. Dumbledore was a great man, and even though he always spoke in riddles. She enjoyed his presence, especially because he had experienced much of what she had gone through as well. Even in the crisp fresh air, Hermione couldn't keep her head clear. The information she was given was overwhelming. All her memories with Harry and Ron had just drifted to the surface of her mind, and she felt so empty. So alone.

Her lungs couldn't take the air she was breathing. She stumbled on the stairs and sat on the top one, gripping her chest and attempted to breathe normally, but it wouldn't come. It was taking every muscle for her to keep herself from crying. Those words had just touched her heart so much, it almost broke.

After around ten minutes of trying to calm herself down, Hermione bravely stood up and made her way down the spiraling stairs. The cool air she had once felt moment ago, which had, at that moment, appeared pleasant and warm had just turned into stone hard, with every blow chilling her to the bones and striking her with reality. A wake-up call to reality. She needed to wake up.

_Come on, Hermione, breathe. _She said to herself, trying to recompose her character. This was all too much to take in, and she knew it. Time wouldn't stop itself, but the time wasn't right for any major action. Nothing major could happen at that moment – no action could be taken. Only planning could take place, and that was probably one of the most tiring and brain crushing mission of all time.

Not only did it take numerous hours of concentration and analyzing facts, but it required every little snippet of detailed memories and past knowledge. Although Hermione didn't mind it, and she knew that it would help her with her memory and thought overload, it only added to the mess in her brain, causing her to end up alone for multiple hours – preferably in the heart of the library.

Hermione came to the bottom of one set of spiral stairs, as her pale hand bumped upon a cold iron beam, supporting the staircase. Only then did she hear broken sobs at coming from underneath her. She curiously, yet emotionlessly looked between her feet to the source of the sound.

Perplexed, she cocked her head to the side, while humming softly and tapping her foot to a random beat. All she could see was the top of someone, a girl's head. Her long black hair tumbled down her back as she hugged her knees.

Beside her was a guy with short dirty-blond hair. He was sitting rather awkwardly, as if not sure what kind of gesture to show. Eventually he scooted over towards the girl and bravely put his arms around her. Hermione smiled sadly as he gave out a sigh of relief when she turned to him and put her arms around his neck, instantly letting her head find the crook of his neck and continued weeping.

Deciding to get a better look, Hermione descended down the stairs and hid behind one of the far stony-cold walls. The girl continued weeping in the boy's arms, and finally Hermione could see some of her features. Even though she was crying, she looked beautiful. She had long black hair, as Hermione noted before, and electrifying blue eyes, which Hermione could see from the dark corner of her hiding place. The girl's face was pale, but her lips were a dark pink, cleanly contrasting with the rest of her features. She was wearing a Hufflepuff uniform and so was the boy beside her.

He had short dirty-blond hair and sharp features, although there was somewhat of a boyish touch to it. He didn't look like the Quidditch type, but more or less a muggle-sport one. He wasn't breathtakingly beautiful, but he had his own unique features which made him stand out.

The longer Hermione looked, the more her heart tore into shreds. The girl was sobbing uncontrollably and the whole scene reminded her so much of her sixth year, when Ronald started dating Lavender Brown. That was probably one of the worst experiences of her life. She wandered helplessly as far away from Ron and the Gryffindor Common Room as she could, but she was still found by both Harry, and then Ron, unintentionally of course.

Hermione didn't even know how much time had passed, as she leaned her head against the cool stone wall beside her and let the memories swim around her mind, but that moment was ruined when she heard giggles and laughs through the wall.

_Oh, bloody hell, no_. Hermione thought immediately. It was like history was going to repeat itself. Or history had repeated itself when it happened to her. The boy's concentration was disrupted and even the girl lifted her head up, looking around.

Since Hermione was behind the two of them, she saw it coming and at that moment, a brunette caked with makeup, and wearing a Ravenclaw scarf waltzed into the tower. Hermione immediately recognized her as one of the Ravenclaw girls who had placed her eye on Logan in Charms class. Pulled along with her was an older Hufflepuff, maybe a sixth year.

His smiled faded off his round face as he saw who was sitting on the stairs.

"Finch-Fletchey." He nodded to the boy: arms were still wrapped tightly around the girl, whose arms had dropped merely two seconds ago. Her body seemed to go limp, but she didn't move an inch.

The Ravenclaw was smirking in the background and Hermione couldn't take it. She knew how the Hufflepuff girl felt at this moment. She was not willing for anyone else to find out how it felt like. Hermione whipped out her wand with war-like reflexes and breathed through her mouth, taking a big gulp of oxygen. "_Oppungo._"

Yellow canaries had burst out of her wand, and flew past the couple on the stairs and started violently attacking the traitorous preposterous couple in front.

"BLOODY HELL!" the Hufflepuff boy yelped, jumping up and nearly running into a wall, just to avoid the vicious-looking birds. But the birds showed no mercy. They swooped on him and went again. Some were pulling the Ravenclaw girl's hair, and others were just aggressively swarming around them like hungry sharks when given fresh meat.

At that moment, the girl and boy sitting on the stairs whipped around, searching for the caster of the spell, but Hermione had already vanished into the depth of the school, with no evidence of the charm she had just cast. Shrieks and yelps were still heard, but Hermione paid no attention and wandered around aimlessly.

She didn't know where she was going and soon the noises had died out – either they had cast a spell to prevent the birds (the girl was a Ravenclaw, ahem), or they hid in an empty classroom and physically stopped the birds.

Only her own footsteps were heard in the empty, long dimly-illuminated hall. It was peaceful. But there was still a part of Hermione which was warning her that something was going to happen. It was an unpleasant premonition rising from the pit of her stomach and stopping at the top of her throat.

"What are the news from today?" A deep voice immediately made Hermione clasp a hand over her mouth and back up into the shadows. Heavy footsteps were heard from the end of the hall and Hermione saw shadows approaching her.

She backed up towards the wall and vanished behind the tapestry right when the footsteps were mere meters in front of her.

"Nothing major. They only found out about the recent developments about the mission."

"Anything we don't already know?"

_Don't already know_? What was this about? They were probably Slytherins talking about one of their slippery cruel plans for the future. It wasn't unusual that Slytherins were talking about something mysterious, but the fact that Hermione was hiding from them defined the anticipation of the situation.

"Not much is getting done, but I think action will be taken soon."

"I surely hope so. He won't be pleased if nothing is done, and you know that."

"We can't exactly do anything about it. We're just pawns in this game, as you know."

"Hell, we haven't even been marked yet."

Hermione noted to herself immediately – they _were_ Slytherins, most probably sixth year or lower, because during this age a bigger part of the seventh years was most likely marked with the Dark Mark.

"Bloody hell, mate, did you hear what happened though?"

"Nah, I haven't heard much on the topic."

"Their meeting spot was near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and they specially planned it so that everyone would be distracted by the Quidditch game, especially the Gryffindors."

"Why the Gryffindors?"

"They're really nosy. Not like that's a bad thing, I guess, but since we're grown up to hate them, we have to think of it as a bad thing. What if they go picking into our business?"

"I guess you're right. But me being a half-blood and all, I don't completely understand thing pureblood inequality."

Hermione gasped, immediately clasping a hand over her mouth. A Slytherin half-blood? That must've been an incredible rareness. All the Slytherins she knew came from pureblood family. But the amount of times that boy was pushed around was probably countless. He most likely did anything to fit in.

"Well that's your problem then. Anyways, speaking of Gryffindors, the new girl, White, was catching the Quaffle and she saw them near the forest. Maybe she heard them, because she hovered over them for quite a while, but she could've been trying to understand what was happening, because Lucius was there too."

Lucius Malfoy! She should've known! That's who else she saw there, out of the strangers. He was the one not wearing school robes because he had already graduated several years prior to the girls' entrance into the school.

"So what happened?" the half blood started again curiously, and Hermione sensed no cruelty or danger in them.

"Well, I think one of the seventh years from the stands stupefied or knocked Evergreen off her broom, using a jinx and at that moment they released the snitch."

"Released the snitch? What do you mean?"

"You're behind, Boot. You don't know anything that has happened lately, have you?"

"I guess not. I try to spend my time in the library more."

"Jeez, mate, sometimes I wonder why you didn't get put into Ravenclaw."

"I've asked myself that multiple, as well."

"Careful, don't let anyone else hear you said that."

"It's only you, so I wouldn't worry. Anyways, you were saying? About the snitch."

"Oh, yes. As I was saying, they put a stalling charm, or a jinx on the Snitch so that it wouldn't be released and capture before their meeting was over. So hopefully White didn't see anything."

Hermione's mouth was agape and she marveled at the fact that Ginny, such a skilled flier, had suddenly just fallen off her broom. And right at the moment when she had found the mysterious cloaked people. She never knew that Slytherins could be so ingenious and so accurate with their plans. It wasn't like them.

Maybe times had changed and Slytherins had become dafter.

"White doesn't seem that bad either."

"Oh, Boot, you don't think that anyone is too bad."

"But I'm being honest. I've seen the other Gryffindors being total arses to the Slytherins. Those Marauders, just picking on us for no reason. Even though Regulus is in our House. But she's different. That Evergreen and Thorn girl too. I've seen Thorn spend so much time with Snape, and White tries to talk to him at times too. She tries to become friends with everyone, but some Slytherins just take it… not too well…"

"I guess she may be nice. But we can't know for sure."

"I know, I know."

Hermione couldn't help but smile. A point was proven: not all Slytherins were cruel or pureblood maniacs. Everything was already changing, and even though these underdogs might've been malicious or unjust, it was only because they were around their own house.

Soon enough the footsteps faded away, and Hermione came out of her hiding spot behind the tapestry and headed up to her dorm.

She could hear the Gryffindor Party still going strong from two floors ahead. Fred and George held equivalently chaotically fun parties, which she never participated in, but there were four Marauders, making the Party twice as loud.

Hermione walked into the Common, where it appeared to be Sirius stripping on a table to the happy and loud screams of all the girls. Hermione shook her head and rolled her eyes, making her way up to her dormitory.

"Come on, Mione, enjoy the party!" She heard someone yell, and turned around to see Ginny dancing with Remus on the dancefloor, blushing scarlet, but nevertheless concealing her feelings for him.

Waving them off and bidding them farewell, Hermione headed up to her dorm and dived straight into bed. It was a tiring day, and she was probably going to regret getting into bed so late, but so was probably a big chunk of the Gryffindor House. Hermione never extremely enjoyed these parties, but a drink or two wouldn't hurt.

~OoOoO~

"Hermione?"

A voice broke through the surface of darkness Hermione had just fallen into. It was a kind, gentle voice which could put a child to sleep as well as a glass of warm foamy milk.

"Mmm?" Hermione hummed back, stretching her arms above her head and flexing her toes. In some miraculous way, her eyes fluttered open and she was awake. Although her eyes weren't completely focused and all she could see at that moment was a blur of colours, she felt her mattress fall under someone's weight

"We're going to Hogsmeade today. You told me yesterday that Dumbledore had your form signed right?"

"Yeah." Hermione yawned and once again attempted to open her eyes, this time gaining the advantage of a dark shadow, which covered her face. Slowly, her eyes focused and she saw a smiling Lily in front of her. "What time do we leave?" Hermione grinned, urging Lily to raise a cheerful eyebrow.

"Oh, you're eager aren't you? And so early in the morning too." Lily laughed cheerfully, exposing her set of straight white teeth.

"Mhmm, I try, Lils, I try." Hermione smiled and closed her eyes, but was determined not to fall asleep. Instead, she suddenly sat up, resting her whole body on the palms of her hands.

When Hermione shook herself out of her drowsy state, Lily stood up. "You should get dressed. We should get going to breakfast and then we can head out to Hogsmeade." Hermione didn't seem too excited by the idea, but that was mainly because it was too early in the morning to show an extremely wide range of facial expressions. Lily looked at her suspiciously for a moment. "You'll like it, I promise you."

"I'm sure I will." Hermione smiled up cheerfully at the redhead, whose face acquired a smile and her hand ran through her uncombed hair. Lily was still in her forest green pajamas, but her hair still looked silky soft, whereas Hermione's probably looked like an erupted beehive. "What time is it then?"

Lily took a quick glanced at the muggle clock on her bedside table and turned around to Hermione, informing her of the requested information. "8:45."

The still-sleepy Gryffindor pushed out her lip in thought and felt a sense of pride. She went to bed quite late yesterday, but it was nothing compared to those long nights she spent during third year. "How did you manage to wake up before me, if I went to bed the earliest?"

"Oh, don't worry," Lily waved her off nonchalantly, shaking her head, "The others haven't awoken yet, and probably will not anytime soon. And as for the second part, I went to bed around half an hour after you did. I think you greatly influenced me. But the party was too much, I guess."

"Even though you weren't one of the ones playing." Hermione smirked playfully, swinging her feet off her bed and touching the cool, yet pleasant feeling wooden floor.

"Even though I wasn't one of the ones playing." Lily shrugged, as she made her way to her bed once again and started brushing out her long auburn-red hair. "I think that James, Sirius and the other players were a little too high on adrenaline and probably didn't stop until earlier this morning. Merlin knows how many times McGonagall tried to shut them down yesterday."

Hermione grinned, as she stood up and stretched, straining her voice and letting out a deep sigh. "Is there a record of some sort?"

Lily nodded happily, glancing up to the ceiling as if recalling the memory. "I remember one time she came around four times in one night, until she finally gave up and decided to put a silencing charm on our dorm. And that's when James wasn't even captain yet." She snapped, pointing giddily towards Hermione, and giggling to herself.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, yet started changing into a pair of muggle clothes: dark black skinny jeans, knee high boots, a warm fuzzy white sweater and her red and gold Gryffindor scarf.

As soon as Lily had finished dressing, and the two of them had applied a certain amount of makeup, they headed down to the Common Room. Hermione had to apply a chunk of foundation to her arm, out of Lily's sight, which spelt out "Mudblood". That awful scar that Bellatrix had given her in Malfoy Manor was permanent. It could not be removed or concealed by a glamour spell: only with muggle makeup.

Hermione wrapped herself in her scarf and the two of them entered the Common Room. Lily and Hermione were both silent for some reason, mostly because it was the morning and no one liked the morning: sad fact, but true. Right when they were about to leave the Common Room, Hermione turned around and looked at the couch.

On the plush crimson couch was a cuddle-up of James and Sirius, who were snoring and snuggling like little puppies. Sirius had his arms wrapped around James' neck, as James had his arms wrapped around a pillow. How the two of them fit and didn't fall off was a real mystery. Hermione grinned and tapped Lily, who was already on the verge of exiting the Common Room, on the shoulder, gesturing towards the sleeping couple.

Lily's face turned into astonishment and adoration. It looked like she had just seen an old grown dog adopt an orphaned tissue-white kitty. Hermione for once appreciated the look on Lily's face, and grinned at the sleeping Marauders. Lily seemed to be shocked, but her eyes were shining bright light the sun.

It was a once in a lifetime experience to see the Marauders all quiet and timid. After the couple of minutes of admiring the splendid view they were given, Hermione and Lily tiptoed, since waking up the boys didn't seem proper at that moment, out of the Common Room and walked down to the Great Hall.

Many students were already assembled in their muggle clothes, warm black Hogwarts cloaks. Every house was feasting on breakfast, as each inhale of fresh warm homey-smelling air warmed the pit of everyone's stomachs and hearts: a feeling better than falling in love.

Who needed falling in love anyway? Hermione frowned upon the idea unless it was some brave, heroic, devilishly handsome, yet chivalrously noble young man, who probably existed between the thick welcoming pages of aging books which needed to be cared for.

It seemed like the whole school was already eagerly chattering their pretty little hearts out and discussing the soon to be first Hogsmeade trip of the year. They seemed to be just as eager as James about Quidditch… Not that much, of course, but only slightly less. The completely non-shocking thing was that Lily and Hermione were the only ones sitting at the Gryffindor table, but the Lions had a tendency to be lazy, with an exception for a few eager early birds.

Hermione elegantly jumped into her seat across from Lily, who was already having a swing at the fried eggs and French toast. Hermione rubbed her hands and licked her lips. She was particularly hungry for a tasty sugary or just stomach-filling snack. She didn't even care that he might not fit into any of her tight jeans in the future, because she was hungry. And no one was going to stop her.

Eventually, after a huge mental argument with herself, she finally picked out waffles with classic orange marmalade. Hermione hungrily eyed the plate until proceeding to her coffee and toast. As much as she might've been tired and depressed the other day, this one seemed to start revolving like a good one too.

Lily and Hermione both wiped their mouths and dropped their dirty napkins and cutlery onto their squeaky-clean plates and leaped from the table, almost with no sign that they were already there.

Knowing that Lily would give her a major tour with historical information and summary of what to buy and what not to by, Hermione put on her most excited and eager face possible, which was not too hard. She knew Hogsmeade off by heart, but she didn't know _this_ Hogsmeade.

Soon enough, the two girls were skipping down to the carriages. Not many others were down by the carriages, because they were still either sleeping, or too busy eating. Hermione and Lily had finished their food with unimaginable velocity, in what seemed like less than twenty minutes.

The carriages were empty, except for the Thestrals standing in front of them. So majestic and so beautiful. One looked straight at Hermione and shrieked softly, as a smile crept on the corner of Hermione's lips, but she dared not show it. She climbed after Lily into one of the carriages at the front and as soon as they were both comfortably seated, they took off.

Hermione kept on looking out the window nervously and suddenly remembered about her two leftover friends, still sprawled across their beds in the dormitory.

She let out an involuntary gasp, "What about Ginny and Luna?" She asked Lily, who laughed gently.

"Yesterday while you were asleep, Ginny got slightly tipsy, hence getting dragged into bed—" Lily started, but came to a sudden halt as she saw the expression on Hermione's face, which was completely and utterly horrified, as her jaw unhinged and nearly fell to the floor.

"If you knew that she was getting dragged into someone's bed, why didn't you stop her?" Hermione almost choked on her own words, receiving a cluster of chortles from Lily, who was holding her stomach, almost looking a little bit in pain, but not a bit of worry or concern crossed her face.

"I was the one who dragged her back to her _own_ bed, Mione. Don't worry, I wouldn't let her be exploited, especially in such an physically and mentally unstable stage." Lily added on, crossing her hand over her heart. "A promise from the depth of my heart. I don't think that Remus would let anyone take her either." Lily wiggled her eyebrows at Hermione started playing along with a clueless expression upon her face.

"Oh? Why so, my dearest Lily?" She raised her eyebrows, letting only a small mischievous smile dance in her eyes and on her lips.

Lily rolled her eyes cheerfully, going along with the flow, "He fancies her!" She leaned over and whispered, covering her mouth and looking around suspiciously, as if this was a secret that no one, not even inanimate objects, were allowed to know about.

"Non, you are kidding! That iz unbelievable! A foolish, sloppy girl like her?! Zis iz preposterous!" Hermione feigned in her best French accent, which she developed after listening to Fleur rant for hours.

An awkward silence splashed upon the two girls as they stared at each other. The staring continued for around two minutes, until not one of them could contain their laughter and burst out, uncontrollably giggling and thanking Merlin for the blessing they both got. Lily got a friend, and Hermione got a piece of Harry, as well as an equivalent of herself.

"But seriously. I'm not joking." Lily tried hard not to giggle, for the spasms in her cheeks were too visible. "I'm ninety nine percent sure that he fancies her, but I think that they'd go well together, because Remus needs somebody to lean on…" Lily awkwardly trailed off, realizing that she was heading in the wrong direction, but neatly swerved away just in time.

"We're here." She cleared her throat and looked out the window, and when her face turned back it was glowing with excitement. She twisted the handle of the carriage and hopped out. "Come on, Hermione! We have lots to see, and not too much time left to spare!"

Hermione nodded eagerly and followed the Head Girl out. She didn't know how Lily was managing so much work, with Head duties and even showing the new girl around. It was brilliant to see such a magnificent mind and a hard-working process in place. Hermione was astonished and saw herself in Lily, which widened her smile.

Hermione and Lily walked arm and arm, as the leaves crunched merrily under each one of their steps. It was a cheerful day, especially since there was no winter wind littering England with empty souls and frostbitten fingers. They walked past the Hogsmeade station, which seemed pretty self-explanatory, and Lily didn't get too deep into that. Only about the architectural, some interesting historical facts, traditions and so on.

Soon enough, after walking five minutes away from the station, Hogsmeade village came into view. Hermione smiled at the view of little houses, their small fancy yet humble roofs coloured with numerous vivid looking leaves, some falling down, others on the brink of falling.

"Welcome to Hogsmeade, Hermione." Lily squeezed her arm and smiled warmly, until grabbing it and breaking into a jog, pulling her new friend along, because the anxiety was uncontainable, and it seemed like it just broke out in their legs. Hermione chortled and gripped her pink beaded bag tighter as they proceeded to run until they ran out of breath.

The warm, cozy looking ol' Three Broomsticks was standing as firm as it had been twenty years into the future. It looked new, even though it was literally ancient. Happy, gentle steam, billowing in light grey clouds rose up to the sky and the smell of butterbeer could be sensed from a mile away. Lily followed Hermione's line of view and smiled.

"That is the Three Broomsticks Inn. In 1612, during the famous Goblin Rebellion—I believe you studied that, yes?" Lily peered at Hermione cautiously.

"You dare insult my intelligence?!" Hermione gasped, dramatically gripping her chest.

"Of course not, Madam!" Lily gasped, equally dramatically, and grinned. "Anyways, as I was saying, it served as the human headquarters during the Goblin Rebellion. It is rumoured that they had some sort of underground floo system, since the inn appeared untouched whenever the goblins came in for inspection." Lily continued on eagerly, using her gestures to show her enthusiasm on the topic, or at least some enthusiasm on it.

Because who was ever enthusiastic about Goblin Rebellions?

"Really?" Hermione's eyes widened in shock, although she had already read up most of the stuff, but the underground floo system struck her by surprise. "Sort of like undetected apparataion?"

"I guess so. But undetected apparation is pretty hard to do, even in our days." Lily kicked at a bunch of leaves, as undetected apparation was once some sort of experiment of hers.

"I know!" Hermione exclaimed huffily, because this type of apparation was old and hard to accomplish. How many times could have they used it when they were Horcrux hunting.

"Anyways, many of students in Hogwarts come here after their day in Hogsmeade, and I dare say, their butterbeer is the best in all of England." Lily nodded pleasantly, obviously utterly satisfied with the butterbeers in the Three Broomsticks and possibly something else. "The Marauders hang around there all the time flirting with Madam Rosmerta." She added on, leading Hermione to smirk. Aha! The missing puzzle piece had discovered itself.

"Madam Rosmerta?" Hermione repeated in 'confusion', gently pressing on the topic, as Lily seemed to flush a little bit, but in consideration of her friend who had _no knowledge whatsoever_, she spared the story.

"She's the barmaid. Rosie, I call her. She's maybe a couple years older than us?" the Head Girl squinted, looking up into the sky, as if trying to flash back some sort of memory. "Well, in any case, she graduated from Hogwarts when we were in second or third year, and as much as I remember it's her family business, which she had to continue. I believe that her mum still works there and she just helps out, but Rosie is the one who gets all the attention."

"Why so?" Hermione continued, obviously seeing the jealously in Lily's face, perfectly covered by a layer of clean porcelain skin.

"Oh, you know," Lily rolled her eyes, while stifling a laugh, "The Marauders, the older boys, even the younger boys as well. But she's refused all of them. Even Potter and Black's charms." At this her face lit up cheerfully, making Hermione grin and almost punch the air in a Quidditch-like fashion, as she proved to herself once more that Lily had something brewing inside of her for James like an overheated uncontrollable potion, on the verge of bursting.

They continued walking by, as Hermione curiously glanced through the windows of the Three Broomsticks, unfortunately there was not much to see, because as always, the Three Broomsticks was smoky but comfortable looking. There were already a couple of people in the inn, even that early in morning.

Hermione looked to her left, and even though it was barely visible, behind a couple of yellowing trees was the visible roof of the Shrieking Shack. It looked bare and old, and cold as well. Not too many pleasant things happened in there, and Hermione knew it. She witnessed a big part of them. The windows were boarded up, some moth eaten, others falling apart. There were no doors and the house itself looked more than a little bit frightening. Haunted.

"What's that house in the distance?" Hermione turned her head to Lily, who grimaced unpleasantly. She knew about the Marauders, mainly about Remus and his… Unfortunate events.

"That's the Shrieking Shack. No one goes in there It's rumoured to be haunted, and some of the villagers claim that in the middle of the night, bloodcurdling screams are heard coming out of it." She frowned, pushing her hair back. "Not even the ghosts go into the Shack. It's just considered bad luck."

"How can you go in if there's no visible entrance?"

"That's the question, isn't it?" Lily shuddered. "It was reported that back in the day, some people entered that house and never came out." She wrinkled her nose for a moment and then continued. "If it is haunted, it's best just to stay as far away from it as possible. It reeks bad luck."

Hermione just nodded and decided not to push anymore, and just to move on, because there was an air of uneasiness clinging to them. They were cast into an eerie silence, sending shivers down her spine, as she rigidly tried to shake it off.

The more they walked, the more Diagon Alley started to get filled with witches and wizards of ages of all sorts. Students were already mindlessly lingering in and out of shops, enjoying the first fashion spring of the season, which attracted so many students. Hogsmeade trips became repetitive after time, but everyone loved to feel the adrenaline pumping through their veins, after not seeing the cute little town in so long.

"To your left you have 'Bundles of Books', a pretty charming cozy little thing it is, doesn't get too many customers, but that's the charm of it." Lily admitted honestly, as she regarded the little rundown shop, which Hermione didn't recognize from the future.

"Lils, you sound like a professional." Hermione shook her head playfully, letting her brown locks bounce from side to side. "What a time we would have if we went campin—on adventures around England together." she swiftly corrected herself, knowing that Lily would understand that 'camping' was not a wizard term, even though it was probably not considered a hobby in the seventies.

"I try, Hermione, I try." She laughed cheerfully in agreement, linking their arms, and continuing their journey down Hogsmeade. "I'm a muggle-born after all. You can't expect me to be bad at giving tours, and er—excursions around the place."

Hermione raised an eyebrow ruefully, and frowned, "I don't think that has a thing with being a good person. It's your personality that matters." She stated firmly and kindly, bringing a sad, but softly kind smile upon Lily's face.

Lily coughed and turned to her right, "Right there, you have your post office, not commonly used by Hogwarts students because we have outowlery, and all letters are sent from there. Plus there's no delivery fee in Hogwarts. Unless you want to send something unanimously, or you have some suspicious plan, you can't send it from Hogsmeade Post Office." Lily said.

"Sounds like a Marauder thing to do." Hermione said, raising her eyebrows and chuckling.

Lily closed her eyes and drew her lips into a tight smile. "That's exactly who I was referring to."

"Is there anyone else who it's possible to refer to, when you mention the word 'mischievous', 'wicked', and usually 'trouble'?" Hermione donned Lily her winning smile, drawing a good firm laugh from Lily.

"I definitely don't know." Lily established candidly. "Alright, to your right, you have probably the most popular location in Hogsmeade to everyone, students and teachers alike: Honeydukes. It's famous with is wild mind-blowing sweets. Honestly, I don't understand how they create some of the thing, but they're plain wacky." Lily laughed, as Hermione smiled and peered into the windows of the shops.

It seemed like times didn't change because Honeydukes seemed the same. Ambrosius Flume and his wife, probably in their mid-thirties were racing around the shop, preparing everything for their first student-visited shop. Even from outside, aside from the crisp scent of autumn leaves, Hermione could smell the candy. Oh the glorious candy.

"What exactly do they sell?" Hermione asked without tearing her gaze away from the candy, "Is there a specific type of candy they sell?"

"No, they sell everything. Frankly, they're coming up with new flavours every day. They have your classic chocolate frogs, acid pops, sugar quills, liquorices wands, ice mice, fizzing wizzbees, and so much more. I don't think I've tried even a tenth of the store!" Lily exclaimed nostalgically, and added in a whisper, "Oh, and their chocolate is to _die_ for." She gave a wicked little smirk Hermione had never imagined would appear on little Ms. Evans's face, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.

Hermione's eyes widened at that little show, as Lily gave her the most innocent smile imaginable.

"Now you have Zonko's on your left." Lily gestured to Hermione's left as they continued along, and Hermione recognized the most popular joke shop before the Weasley's Wizard Weezers came into business. "The Marauders spend most of their time there."

"You would know that, right, Ms. Evans?" Hermione smirked, as Lily looked appalled.

"Why, Ms. White, I know only from the best not to walk into that shop. You see, that is a joke shop, and the Marauders are pranksters. I think they hang out most in Honeydukes and Zonkos." Lily strictly looked at her, yet luckily her glare was masked by a mysterious smile.

Hermione blew her cheeks up and slowly released air out of them. She was really rubbing off on Lily Evans, wasn't she? They could basically be twins.

"Now, you have a basic pastry shop to your right," Lily glanced around, naming off different stores to Hermione. They reached a fork in the road, and Lily gestured sketchily down the right thin alleyway. "That's a really dark place, not many students go there. You can buy your potions, herbs and weeds down there. And not only magical weeds." She raised a suggestive eyebrow as Hermione nodded. "Hog's Head, another pub is down there, but no one goes. Lots of outsiders and wilderness folk down there. And that's Dervish and Banges down there."

Hermione just nodded as they proceeded in the direction of probably Hermione's favourite shop of quills, parchment, and writing utensils. The new freshly-installed wooden sign hanging at the entrance almost illuminated itself from tens of meters away. Hermione turned to Lily who seemed extremely excited as well, and it looked like she was trying to keep it all in.

As they approached near enough to see the windows of the shops, Lily burst into a ramble of her favourite quills, books, ink, and parchment, all sold at Scrivencraft's quill shop. Hermione felt terrible because her mouth was always about to open and agree to everything her knowledgeable friend was saying, but she couldn't, because it only her 'first time'. She would nod in agreement, sometimes even ask questions, but it was mostly Lily talking.

Lily was breathlessly rambling away, even after they passed the shop. There were some other shops the two girls passed, but Lily was too into her summarizing her favourite items from Scrivencraft's to give them some attention. Hermione tried to slow down, so that Lily would finish talking before they reached another significant store she wanted Lily's opinion of especially.

They had taken another fork, only this time turned left, leading them away from the path and leading them closely to a disgustingly over perfumed café. Lily cringed when she realized where they had turned, causing her to pout and stomp her foot with every step.

"What's that lovely shop down there?" Hermione asked innocently, nodding towards the frilly pink shop, decorated with bowties and hearts all over. Lily's face started getting more disgusted as they walked towards it, until she moodily huffed and spun them around.

"Let's not go there. That's Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. You don't even get involved." Lily looked agonized and pained, as she started ranting about the negatives aspects of the shop. "If anyone asks you, spare yourself and don't go there. It's all pink, decorated with hearts and frilly banners, not to mention the confetti and the lace napkins." Lily covered her eyes, as Hermione raised an eyebrow.

It seemed like Lily had a first-hand experience with Madam Puddifoot's.

"Not to mention that all the people there are either holding hands or snogging over their teas and coffees." Lily spat disgustingly, as Hermione tried not to laugh.

"Happened to you once?" She asked quietly enough for only Lily to hear.

"Hermione White, I swear, I will push you into a sewer if you bring up a conversation related to Madam Puddifoot's tea shop." Lily joked with a completely distressed expression on her face. Hermione pursed her lips, containing her smile and raised her arms in defeat.

It took a little while for Lily to stop fuming until she could continue the lovely Hogsmeade tour, which appeared to be finished, for Lily described the last alley as a spice or flea market with a couple interesting shops, but not enough to capture too much attention.

The two of them, Lily still quite embarrassed and flushed after Madam Puddifoot's shop, even though they were not even ten meters near it, walked down the main street of Hogsmeade. Hermione was guessing that it was already around twelve o'clock because students were already crowding the main portion of the street.

Right at that moment an ear-shattering yelp was heard from beyond the crowd. Hermione squinted and hopped above the crowd to see what the matter was, and Lily did the same thing. At the same time, they looked at each other curiously, almost telepathically connecting, and trying to figure out each others' theories on what the bustle was.

All of the sudden, Hermione saw a flash of colour, heard a deafening bang and, still gripping on to Lily's hand, fell hard to the ground, her vision going black.

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**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hope you will review. Thank you to all of you, you're truly a motivation, and I can't predict how far ahead I would be if I didn't have you around. Thank you.x **

**GirlxMarauder**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. *dies*. I still don't own him. Darn it. *gets resurrected* **

**I'm baaackkk! Woah, it's actually been two weeks. I'm sincerely proud of myself, and I hope to continue in this manner of updating. So life… Life's good… I'd say, I have a bigger social life with you guys than in person with my friends (; because you guys are so sweet and nice and I love you allxxxx shhh I know you enough**

**I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter (: thank you to my amazing readers, followers, favouriters, and reviewers too! You guys all deserve gold stars! Special thanks to ****TS17isme****, **** .nerd****, ****DGfleetfox****, ****hummingpetal****, ****SincerelyYourSecret****, ****casper22****, ****LolaPotterMalfoy****, ****nikyta****, ****Mrs. Theodore Nott****, ****Gaby, ****Isabel, ****SattlerSister90, ****LoonyLunaTheBAMFWhoLovesLlamas****, ****CheesyVampire156****, ****MissIndie****, ****erythra-selena****, ****Ammaviel****. You rock!xx**

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"**Just a second, we're not broken just bent, and we can learn to love again… It's in the stars, it's been written in the scars on our hearts…" Just Give Me A Reason (P!nk, ft. Nate Ruess)**

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**Chapter 20**

"_Enervate._" A dull, yet extremely recognizable annoying, prissy voice muttered, causing Hermione's eyes fluttered open. Right in front of her face, a mere five inches away, was the grinning face of none other than Sirius Black.

"Hullo, Hermione." He smirked down at her, only earning a long droning groan from the poor girl underneath him. _Which is sort of a stereotype because any girl who would even _dream_ to be underneath him would be anywhere for from poor._ Hermione snorted in her mind.

"Why is it what every time I wake up, I see your face just grinning at me?" she groaned, sending a death look at him, but Black's smirk didn't vanish. "Black, what did you do?" Hermione exclaimed, gripping her head, which was aching like mad. "Honestly, do you have any manners? Is there something wrong with you?"

That question only got Sirius to grin even wider. "Well you see, love, Jamesy boy and I," he pointed over at James who was hovering above an unconscious Lily, and was randomly stroking her hair… Hermione, who just acquired a completely confused expression on her face, stared at the Head Boy, who was twirling a lock of red hair between his fingers. A few seconds later, her felt the uncomfortable stare and turned his head, immediately blushing and dropping the piece of hair.

"James, what are you doing?"

"I don't know!" He exclaimed, clearly terrified. "And secondly, when else do I get to touch her hair? She would cut my fingers off if I even stood two feet away from her!"

"James, no one cares." Sirius growled, turning Hermione's head around, away from James. "So firstly, Jamesy and I were running away from a crowd of very sexually obsessed girls, who were planning to skin us—"

"Probably skin our clothing and leave us naked." James called over simply, as Sirius waved him off, as if it was something they dealt with every day, which was true, because they had raging fangirls, who were ready to be taken down even in the middle of the street.

"Anyways," Sirius continued wholeheartedly, sending an angry glare in James' direction, who raised his arms in defeat, "we were running away from these girls and we bumped into you lovely ladies. Accidentally. Knocking you cold, you know, nothing major. Answer number two: I only have manners when I am not hungry or everyone is polite to me, which is never. Lastly, I believe that I am infected with some sort of disease—"

"—a dreadful disease, it is—" James added on, picking Lily up, so that she wasn't faceplanted on the ground and turned her over onto her back.

"—and probably is extremely contagious—"

"—even I am infected."

"Is it an STD or something on the basis of that? Because I wouldn't be surprised." Hermione stated dryly, starting to get up, although it was quite a challenge because her side was aching and head was spinning, although it seemed like a paper cut compared to her injuries during the war.

"Hermione!" James gasped dramatically, placing a hand on his chest, causing Hermione to snort as she dusted dust off her clothes and stretched out. "How could you even imagine that? That is not possible!"

"No, love, we are bird magnets. And after we've been infected with this disease, there's no way to reverse the atoms on our chick radars and magnets, so we are simply incurable." Sirius sighed deeply and incoherently, although there was not sadness in his voice. He seemed quite displeased that he wasn't pinning Hermione to the ground anymore, but judging from the look on the faces of witches and wizards, both young and old, Hermione didn't want to be in that position again.

She rolled her eyes and turned around to James whose ears were perked as squeals and giggles were heard rolling from over the crowds. The girls were approaching. He immediately whipped out his wand and pointed it at Lily, but before doing anything he turned to Hermione.

"Should I wake her up?" He asked cautiously, quickly glancing over his shoulder at the sound of approaching girls. _More like stampeding elephants._ For a moment, Hermione considered James' awful options. Lily would kill James. Literally. But it would be sad to see them be mobbed by girls, so for once in her life, Hermione decided to help the poor Marauders.

She scoffed, as she reconsidered the oxymoron. _Poor Marauders my sorry arse. _

"Hermione!" Sirius nudged her hurriedly, as the voices got even closer. They were so close, they were sure to leap up from the crowd at any moment. What could she do? How could she help the Marauders without letting Lily find out?

"Quick, go into Scrivencraft's across the road!" She looked both ways and shoved the boys forward towards the shop hurriedly. "And stay hidden! Don't go near the windows! Go deeper into the shop, I'll help you out." She nodded quickly and smirked, finally a mischievous side of her kicking in. Godric would be proud.

James was already inside the shop, but Sirius was still standing beside Hermione. He was staring long and hard at her, as if he was trying to figure out whether or not she was tricking them.

Hermione glared at the cheeky Marauder, who refused to move his bloody arse. "Hurry up! Go! It won't work it you don't move your arse!" With an unconvinced final glance, Sirius ran into the shop, his Gryffindor scarf flying behind him. When they were in the shop and only peeking out the window, as Hermione told them _not_ to do, the young witch knelt over her friend and cast "_Enervate._"

Lily started to stir, but Hermione had no time to be gentle, she grabbed her arms and pulled her up. "I'm sorry ahead of time, Lily." She whispered to her, putting her into a sitting position on the bench which was conveniently right next to them. Lily was starting to move and rub her temples, but Hermione had to help the Marauders.

Who would've ever thought that the day _Hermione Granger_ the brightest witch of her age, would be helping the devious Marauders?

After the war, Hermione started practicing more of her own spells. She developed a more complicated charm inspired by her canary bird charm, _Oppungo_, only this one created illusions and didn't attack anyone physically. She admitted that it was easier to do than her previous charm, but it was a contraption worth of getting put into Merlin's book. Plus, she put in more thought into the incantation this time.

Hermione whipped out her wand and aimed it slightly further ahead of her, where the road came to a fork and where there were more or less people at the moment. Carefully, waving her in a careful 'A' motion, she spoke carefully and clearly "_Formosus Hallucinatio_" It covered her skin with goose bumps because of the Luna-like tone she used: airy and dreamy, but her mind was full at work. She clearly pictured James and Sirius in what they were wearing that day, until suddenly a white flash erupted in her mind until she opened her eyes and they were standing right in front of her, grinning like idiots.

They were pale and translucent, but no one would notice, especially since the spell had perfected both their hair and physical structures.

From beside her, she heard Lily mutter, "Oh that Potter git!" but Hermione reminded herself that she wasn't supposed to pay too much attention to her surroundings: she had to be fully concentrated on the spell, especially since she hadn't perfected it yet. Solely because she didn't have many means to practice it.

"_Turn around._" She spoke clearly in her mind, and the two illusions grinned and did so. The spell let them take over the personality of the two Marauders as well, which was completely and utterly perfect. Hermione was so glad she spent all that extra time on extracurricular charms and potions.

Right at that moment, squeals and yelps were heard from right behind Hermione.

"Oh Merlin!"

"Where are they?"

"Can you see them?"

"YES THERE THEY ARE!"

"LET'S GET THEM!"

"GO! GO! GO!"

Hermione smirked. An army of them would be plain unbeatable. "_Glance back. Grin. Smirk. Do your charming stuff and then run away._" Hermione concentrated hard on her words, as they echoed in her head quite loudly; causing Hermione to cringe, but she didn't break eye contact with her illusions.

To her relief, the charm worked as well as she hoped. White sparks came out of her wand and flew towards the illusions, striking them, and they jumped into action, just as Hermione imagined for them to. They laughed and shoved each other around, grinned and winked at the girls coming at them, and then started prancing away. Hermione just prayed to Merlin that the girls would buy it. She focused on them for a while until they were out of sight, and then she muttered "_Finite._"

The amount of energy the charm took made Hermione nauseous and extremely tired. She sat down beside Lily, who was still rubbing her temples and blinking rapidly. "What was that, Hermione?" she muttered weakly, almost like an injured puppy. "And what happened to me? I think I blacked out, or something like that."

"Erm—you kind of did. But I'll explain that later. Please promise me one thing though." Hermione looked at the clueless Lily as sternly as possible, which took her back in surprise. Her mouth was partially opened and she stuttered unsurely.

"Umm… Anything?" Lily asked very self-consciously.

"When we see Potter, don't flip out at him. Or do anything too drastic." she said, but as Lily's expression changed to dumbfounded, Hermione raised her hands up in defense. "Because that would ruin something. Alright?" When Lily was about to ask why or what, Hermione interrupted and continued. "Don't ask why. It's kind of complicated."

Lily pursed her lips, but crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. Then, Hermione grinned foolishly, grabbed Lily's arm and they skipped over the Scrivencraft's across the road.

There were a couple of reasons why Hermione chose Scrivencraft's – firstly, because that was the first place in front of them and the closest to run over to. Secondly, the girls would never imagine that James and Sirius would even go near that place. Lastly, she knew that it would be the best place where to tame Lily and where she would stay calm for a longer amount of time.

In comparison to what Madam Puddifoot's smelt even on the outside, Scrivencraft's smelt like heaven. It was the perfect place to be, and Hermione was sure that if she didn't have any magical capabilities, and no political interest, she would pursue a calm and peaceful job, such as a librarian or the owner of a bookstore. The smell of fresh parchment made her feel infinite.

It was nice to be in a place where she was understood for her love of books, reading, and knowledge.

Lily seemed to still be in a slightly woozy state because Hermione was the one dragging her into the store. The only moment it seemed like Lily was fully awake was when she caught sight of James' messy black hair peeking over one of the shelves. At that moment, Hermione was scared that Lily would cut off her circulation with her bare hand.

A sharp intake of air was heard from behind her, as Hermione winced and tried to wiggle out of the tight grip. She turned around with an apologetic expression on her face, but found Lily to be purely petrified. She was still pale from the near-concussion they both got, and this brought out the few freckles on her cheeks and her flaming auburn hair. Her green eyes were wide open and she looked plain horrified.

"Hello, ladies." Hermione heard a deep voice from behind her.

"Potter." Lily indignantly acknowledged James' existence before examining James from the top of his head, to his shoes. "I'm just slightly curious, for the reason behind your appearance in this bookshop." She asked, obviously keeping her temper secured in a cage, and keeping honest control over it.

Hermione opened her eyes and stepped behind Lily. She waved her arms and pleadingly looked at the two boys. If Lily understood that Hermione had somehow helped them out, Hermione would be the one getting skinned that day. And James probably alongside her: Lily would most likely go on a jinxing spree.

"Actually, Lily," James enunciated her name, which made Lily's jaw drop from complete and astonishment. "I was buying some books for my spare reading time, because my life is getting awfully boring lately."

Lily seemed up to the challenge and opened her mouth to interrogate him, but James swiftly made his way past her and to the cash register. Trailing behind him, she started asking all sorts of questions, which he airily answered, and explained to her that he always had a passion for reading books, but had no time to ruin his reputation. Either James was serious or he was an extremely good actor: even Lily didn't know what to believe. Her eyes were darting unsurely from the Head Boy to the books in his arms, to his unruly hair, to his wand in his pocket.

Even Hermione was confused, as she stared after the two of them, and couldn't decide whether or not James was kidding. Sirius walked up beside her and crossed her line of vision, immediately making her eyes snap back up to his beautiful face, which he turned in Lily and James' direction. His hair was falling over it, and it attracted Hermione even more that they were having at the moment was set in a bookshop. Perfect.

Once she saw Sirius' head turning back to face her, she decided to nonchalantly examine a quill set, which, as she noticed earlier, was simply beautiful. The quill was made of a tail feather from an exotic Canadian white-tailed hawk. Alongside it which was expensive German ink set, which came in blue and black. Apparent from the expensive tools already, there was a whole set of metal nibs of different shapes and sizes.

Hermione feel extremely self-conscious because Sirius was still staring at her. Just as she was thinking that, he moved up, so that he was standing behind her. She felt him lean over so close, that she could feel his hot breath on her skin. "I want to thank you for what you did today. It was really impressive. You should teach me that spell you did. I could honestly use it sometimes." He laughed. "Well most of the time. I thought that you'd make them follow us into the store and create a ruckus."

"A ruckus in a book store?" Hermione grinned and whispered back, slightly turning her head towards Sirius. "Trust me, I would never let that happen, no matter the circumstances."

"Unless the books were attacking you." Hermione nearly bit her tongue when he mentioned that little incident. Knowing that Sirius would never let her forget that, she rolled her eyes and playfully pursed her lips.

"I swear, Black, if you ever do that again, I will cut your hand off." She chuckled, as he gasped sarcastically in her ear, sending shivers all over her body. It felt so different. But it felt so right. "Let's go before they kill each other, arguing over which book is the best."

Sirius nodded and took Hermione by the arm and led her towards the exit. The little scene was viewed by the curious and completely shell-shocked owner. The Marauders didn't dare ever go near the store. Touching a book was unheard of. And the Marauders walking out with two pretty and intelligent looking girls, seemed like a miracle or an illusion.

"Lily, would you do me the pleasure of accompanying me to The Three Broomsticks right now?" James peered at Lily, while holding her stack of books, which she decided to buy last minute, just as a comeback argument. His face was serious, although it had a cute puppy-dog touch to it, but nothing could ever beat Sirius' begging face, Hermione had to admit.

Lily switched her body pressure to her other foot and put her hands on her hips. Her face had an extremely perplexed look, as she stared at the boy in front of her, holding her books and her bag. She turned her head and pleadingly looked at Hermione, who raised her eyebrows inevitably, making Lily let out a sigh.

A little blush tinged on her cheeks, as she tried to hide her smile, "Alright, Potter."

"Alright," he chuckled, "Butterbeers on me."

James was about to take hold of her arm, like Sirius was doing to Hermione, but right when he nearly touched her, Lily slapped his hand away and he backed off to the side, two or three steps, until they both proceeded making their way to the Three Broomsticks, with Hermione and Sirius right behind them both grinning toothily.

As soon as they were all sat down at a far corner in the bar, Sirius and James hopped off to buy them all butterbeers. After they had a long and incredibly long argument about which one of them was planning to pay, Lily turned to Hermione, completely flushed, sporting a tired, yet satisfied grin on her face.

Hermione couldn't help but smile, "Enjoying yourself, Lils?"

The grin was reflected and the both girls started chattering, while the boys were off buying them butterbeers. It wasn't hot outside, but it wasn't cold. The two girls somehow went to the topic in which weather it was ideal to drink butterbeers and both decided on the same thing. The best time to drink the fantastically brewed drink was in the middle of the winter, when the white steam clouded your vision, and all you could feel around you was the prickly snow on your cheeks and the sweet taste and smell of the butterbeer.

Right when they came to the conclusion, the doorbell rang and a group of people dressed in Hogwarts cloaks walked in – it was a group of sixth year Slytherins, Regulus amongst them, and coincidentally they chose a spot in the hidden corner just a couple tables away from the girls.

Raising her eyebrow, Hermione regarded Lily funnily, who peeked at her out of the corner of her eye and beamed. Regulus seemed to be throwing anxious glances at the girls, and so were the rest of the Slytherin boys. They didn't seem to have an extremely angry completion, nor an evil one. They all seemed simply curious. And many of them were quite handsome in their own way.

Just for the sake of the mood, when Regulus anxiously looked over at the two Gryffindor girls, Hermione waved at him and winked, as Lily blew him a chaste kiss, which caused the poor insecure Slytherin to bend over the table, and he didn't show himself for the rest of the time the girls were there.

Lily and Hermione started talking about the situation which occurred before the Quidditch match which, quite uncomfortably, brought Hermione back to the thought that something was up amongst the older Slytherins, but Lily was just laughing away, recalling the hilarious expressions on everyone's faces, and even the teachers' reactions after Lily, _Head Girl,_ kissed the brother of one of the Marauders, who also happened to be in Slytherin House.

"You should've seen Flitwick!" Hermione exclaimed, clutching the edge of the table, and holding her chest with the other, "It looked as if he was about to have a stroke. I don't even know whether or not he was surprised, impressed, shocked—"

"Oh Mione, m'dear, please don't even give me that image. I can imagine the poor man having a seizure even with the low-quality details I had there." The Head Girl winked mischievously, as Hermione rolled her eyes and turned her head, only to see Professor Flitwick coming in their direction.

She turned her head equally slowly back to face Lily, whose face was withholding complete shock. "He probably has his name on taboo so that he will know whenever someone is talking about him." Hermione leaned over and smirked in Lily's ear, causing the girl to claps a hand over her mouth and to restrain from bursting out laughing.

"Hello, ladies." Professor Flitwick greeted them in his high-pitched happy voice, which made it seem like he got himself a new advanced charms book, or something of the sort.

"Hello, Professor Flitwick!" The two girls chorused happily together, smiling up at their Charms teacher whose face lit up instantly.

"I was just wondering, I have a student or two in need of Charms help, and I was just wondering if maybe you two could assist me in giving them some separate lessons, say once a week?" He inquired, as the two girls exchanged curious looks and looked back up at their professor. "They're just a couple of very good students, only they are a little bit behind and don't really understand the material. I understand if you refuse, that would be completely—"

"It's okay, professor." Hermione gave him a confident and charming beam, which made him light up in hope. "I don't think we'll mind." She looked over at Lily and nudged her lightly.

"Oh, not at all, professor. Anything for the sake of the students. That's my responsibility as Head Girl." Lily lifted her head and fixed her shoulders back triumphantly.

"Fabulous!" Flitwick genuinely smiled at the two girls, "You will be able to start your tutoring in the Charms room Thursday November 4th." He waited for the two girls to agree and they nodded pleasantly, and he nearly jumped up in joy. "I'm anxious to see you there."

And then he walked away towards the other Professors who had just entered the pub. Hermione and Lily considered, looking at each other and nodded happily. Neither minded tutoring younger students. Maybe because it would just be some time to spend further away from the evil mob of girls, planning to run them over with something extremely heavy and lethal. Or maybe they just wanted to spend more time together in peace. The feelings were mixed.

"Hullo, Hermione. Your hair smells really nice. I can smell it from here." An airy voice stated in an 'as-a-matter-of-fact' tone from behind her. Hermione grinned and turned around to see Luna standing with Severus. "Yours does too, Lily, only I prefer Hermione's much better. I think I let her borrow that shampoo. It's made of ticking explosive flower juice and fabulous floating flower petals. They're both so rare." She said seriously, while smelling her own hair and turning back to Hermione. "I'm surprised that you kept it, Hermione. I thought you'd thrown it out."

"I rare gift like that?" Hermione exclaimed incredulously, yet playfully, "I would never, Luna. I thought you'd know me by now."

"Hmm… I guess. Maybe the wrackspurts are taking over my brain. Sev, say hello." Luna's pale face had acquired a frown for a moment, when she took a look at the shy boy standing behind her.

"Hello." He said simply and unconfidently, causing Luna to roll her eyes.

She grabbed his hand and skipped over to sit beside Hermione, who shifted over to make room for the two of them. "We'll work on that greeting of yours later, Severus Snape." Luna gave him a strict regard, making Lily stifle her laugh, since she probably had never seen Severus in such a state: when there was someone controlling him, and he was giving in.

But Hermione swore that it brought warmth to Lily's heart when she looked at the two and was convinced that Severus had found someone, even after their hard separation. It was like digging yourself out of a deep hole in the ground, at the bottom of which was a fiery chasm of doom.

"Sev, would you like a butterbeer?" Luna asked her companion, curiously peering into his eyes, as she shook his head and mumbled something under his breath.

Hermione and Lily raised their eyebrows and both glanced over at the counter where James and Sirius were shamelessly flirting with Rosie. The two girls rolled their eyes and shook their heads, but no surprise or offense was taken. Luna also followed their line of vision and she came to a realization.

"Oh, that's why you don't want to go, Severus. You don't want to talk to the barmaid! Or the Marauders. Either one. I think that they're both equally intimidating, so you have completely nothing to worry about." She patted her friend on the back, as Severus' eyebrows ruffled and his face curled into misunderstanding.

"I'm not scared of those twats!" He growled lowly, shooting a glare at Luna, which she nonchalantly ignored, and started up a discussion on the magical contents of the Felix Filices Potion.

Lily got deeply interested and admitted that she always wanted to either brew or try the Felix Felices potion, and she and Luna started discussing the tiny details they both read about. Their conversation didn't take long to evolve before the tallest Marauder strolled along with a certain ginger hanging onto his arm.

"Hello, Hermione, Lily, Luna." He beckoned the girls sitting at the booth and gave a firm nod and soft smile to Severus. The Slytherin seemed to nearly jump out in shock, but quickly recovered by nodding back to the Marauder uneasily.

"Ginny, how nice of you to join us." Lily said warmly, cheekily looking from Ginny, to Remus, and back again.

"Remus and I just came around from breakfast." She stated boldly, flipping back her hair giddily.

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "You woke up that late? Even you, Remus?" She shook her head in shock, clucking tentatively.

"No, it was just Ginny. I got up earlier, and decided to read a book, since I promised to show Ginny Hogsmeade."

"And we would've already started, if we had not seen Luna and Severus prance into the place. So we immediately assumed that you would be here." She explained, sliding over to the other side of the table and pulling Remus down beside her. There was practically no space now, since everyone was jam-packed.

But the image of Severus 'prancing' into The Three Broomstick, caused Hermione to nearly burst out laughing. Luna and prancing, yes. But Severus and prancing wouldn't even fit in the same sentence.

"Did you sleep well, Remus?" Lily giggled quietly, but Remus' head snapped up, since he obviously heard every word clearly and precisely. Hermione tried to stifle her own laugh, causing her face to turn red. She looked under the table, finding her nails particularly interesting at that moment for some reason.

The shock and sheer amusement on Remus' face was obvious, as Hermione remembered the scene she and Lily had encountered that same morning. "I slept well, that's for sure. But I know some people who slept even better last night." His eyes wandered curiously to where Sirius and James were standing, and as if they had some sort of freaky connection, both turned around at the same time and whispered something to one another, and started making their way to the table.

"We slept quite well thank you." James dipped his head kindly to everyone at the table and grinned nostalgically. "It was the night of my dreams." Hermione and Lily once again exchanged a giggle, and Luna simply smiled, because she probably got up early enough to see the little scene. Sev was staring at everyone with a confused and partially disgusted expression because he did not know what was going on. Also probably because a presence of so many Gryffindors was extremely overwhelming.

"Oh, yes, James, you're the only thing that I've ever wanted in my life!" Sirius cooed, grabbing James by the shoulders and dancing around with him, but when his attention was brought back to the table he snarled and narrowed his eyes at Severus.

"Be nice, Sirius." Hermione stared his right in the eye and some sort of ease overcame him, and he nodded lightly, but the frown on his face did not disappear. To Hermione's surprise, James didn't have any negative or positive reaction towards Severus.

"There's no room, James." Sirius growled to his friend lightly, slightly nodding at Severus (a minimal action only the most observant would notice), but James shrugged his shoulders and squeezed in beside Remus. After understanding that James wouldn't do a thing, Sirius rolled his eyes, strutted over to a neighbouring table, and took a chair, glumly settling down on it and staring at a hole in the wall right above Hermione's head.

"Ladies," James nodded politely to Lily and Hermione, "Your butterbeeers have been delivered."

"With quite an effort, I see?" Lily smiled sarcastically, as James scoffed and placed his hand over his chest.

"Lily, dear, must you be so vicious? Don't break my heart, love." He winked at her, and Hermione realized that the chivalrous book-loving James had suddenly disappeared and the cheeky-Marauder James was back.

Before Lily could come back with some kind of a snide comment and argue her attitude, Luna interrupted, thoroughly interested in the topic, "James, did you and Sirius go butterbeer hunting?" she asked quite seriously, as the Marauders nodded equally seriously.

"Well yes, of course we did. It is considered quite an ethnical sport, if you folks haven't noticed." Sirius proclaimed, quickly and sincerely, courteously nodding his head one time and reassuming his previous indifferent position of staring into the wall, which made Hermione roll her eyes cheerfully.

"I've always wanted to go butterbeer hunting" says exclaimed dreamily, as she took out her wand which was, for no apparent reason, shooting white sparks, and started twirling it in between her fingers, making her seem like a professional street flaming-knife juggler, causing everyone shift gingerly.

"You should come along one day." James agreed, nodding his head in agreement. "It is only right for a proper lady to be aware of the skills of survival and what these exotic lustrous jungles and deep, unexplored forests may hold."

Luna smiled happily in response, obviously extremely content with the agreement, at which Hermione rolled her eyes. Even after spending years with Luna she never knew whether or not she was joking, being sarcastic, telling the truth or trying to joke around. It wasn't that her expressions never changed. It was that she always said such crazy things, both truthfully and sarcastically, that it was impossible to distinguish the two.

"Just before we discovered all of you," Ginny started out, joyously, jokingly nearly knocking Remus off his chair, for a reason she would probably explain later on, "We were discussing how the Chudley Cannons won't last at all." Ginny declared triumphantly, throwing over a sly look at Herrmione and Luna who, by that time, had raised their eyebrows in amusement.

A blood-chilling silence went over the table, before James, Sirius and Remus got up and started arguing.

"NO!" Sirius cried incredulously.

"The Cannons are the best!" James shouted right in Ginny's face, who barely even responded to that rude gesture. The smirk on her face was impossible to eliminate. Now the three Marauders were all on their feet, fighting for the right of their favourite team.

"There's a reason why their motto is _'We Shall Conquer'_, Ginny. They're the best team in the whole league this year." Remus added abruptly, and the lack of amusement on his face was evident, which caused it to seem like the Chudley Cannons were the bandwagon team of the year in 1977.

"They're only good this year." Ginny protested undeniably, letting her hands flail in the air, as she too got up, so that she wasn't a midget in comparison to all the Marauders. "Watch! Every year from now they're gonna get worse and worse until they're at the bottom of the league like the Titanic is at the bottom of the Atlantic at the moment."

James and Sirius were just about to tread over Ginny, although Remus was blocking her with his own body, when Hermione stood up. She swore she heard Severus whisper, "Do you know what's going on?" to Luna, but she was too excited for this argument to answer or say anything about it.

"Without doubt, they will be the worst team in the league. I'll give it that." She pointed at James and Sirius, whose jaws fell open once they realized that they were arguing against two same-class wealthy purebloods. By the mischievous looks in their eyes, the two girls understood that the fight was on.

"You too, Hermione?" Sirius guffawed sarcastically, clutching his stomach. "Oh don't make me sick! Did you see their roster? They have the best players from all of the draft picks from the last five years. They're a super team, with awesome players and amazing fans supporting them." He stuck out his chest and unzipped his jacket to reveal a bright neon orange Chudley Cannons tee.

Hermione stuck up a finger giddily and pointed at Sirius, "You said that they just got all their players. But the oldest I've heard they play up to is around forty. Most of them retire at thirty five, which means that their team will soon collapse." She snapped victoriously into Sirius' shocked face. He and James exchanged glances, and it was evident that they were never challenged in this way before.

Hermione looked around the table and noticed that everyone was looking at them with amused or extremely excited looks. It seemed that it wasn't every day you got to watch a hard-core argument to on in Hogwarts, especially against the Marauders.

"Hermione is completely correct." Ginny exclaimed, sipping some of Hermione's butterbeer before the other could protest. "They will be the worst."

"Over my dead body." James growled lowly. Hermione's heart skipped a beat. Two beats. Almost even three. James was alive for the start of the Chudley Cannons' tumble down the graph of best international professional teams. Sirius saw it, but James didn't. It seemed like Ginny caught that one two and tried to cover her surprise with a light chuckle of dismay.

The boys may have considered that the two girls had given up, from the somewhat amused, cheeky smiled on their face. Remus was still standing up, obviously torn between his decision, but nevertheless was standing alongside of his old friends, with whom he had grown up. He was just blocking Ginny from getting torn apart by his two friends, which wouldn't happen because Ginny would kick their arses before they would lay a finger down on her.

Just to break the tension James rolled his eyes and started once again, "Well if the Cannons are such an awful team, which would you consider the best?"

At the same time, Ginny said Holyhead Harpies, when Hermione said Puddlemere United. They looked at each other and giggled, while the boys looked at them confused.

"Well," Ginny started once again, "Since we're probably talking about international male teams, when the Holyhead Harpies are a women's team, I'm also going with Puddlemere United." She finished plainly, looking up furiously at Remus, James and Sirius, who wavered a little bit under her hard gaze.

"Puddlemere sucks bollocks, alright?" Sirius laughed sarcastically, holding up his hands, "There's no way that junk team with ever beat the Cannons. No physical way." He declared clearly, looking Hermione straight in the eye, but Hermione stood unblemished and untouched by his glare. Although she did notice that his usually silvery orbs suddenly turned smoky grey.

"Oh yeah?!" Hermione exclaimed suddenly, shocking everyone around, as a perfect and amazing idea came up in her head. "Give it twenty years, and the Cannons will be at the bottom of the league for five years straight."

Ginny turned around slowly and quickly rolled her eyes, but nodded in agreement. "Hermione's right. All three of you will have to give us twenty galleons—"

"—TWENTY GALLEONS!" The three Marauders exclaimed simultaneously in complete and utter shock.

"—each." Ginny continued, as the boys' eyes widened in disbelief and confusion. "SO, Hermione and I," She looked over at Hemrione, who nodded back in agreement, "Bet that in the 90s, the Cannons with be at the bottom of the league for five years in a row. And you will owe us twenty galleons each."

Remus instantly paled, and Hermione felt sorry for the boy, because the stakes were truly high, but she was sure that times would change. "And if we win and you lose?" James asked cautiously. They were bargaining over Quidditch teams. Who could have ever guessed? Everyone from the future would be proud. Ron. Harry. Fred. George. Wood. Katie. Ange—

"If you win, we have to pay off the sixty galleons. So I will pay thirty and so will Ginny." Hermione finished, with a final breath, blocking the depressing thoughts out of her mind.

"Wait, wait, wait, stop." Sirius held his arms up to motion that the deal was not closed. "What if we're broke by that time?"

Hermione shrugged with a small smile, "Then it's just not your luck!" She exclaimed cheerfully, as Sirius eyed her carefully. The other Marauders exchanged looks and so did Ginny and Hermione.

"Alright we have a deal." James held out one hand to Ginny and the other to Hermione, and shook them, but before he could let go, Hermione whipped out her wand with her free hand and cast a quick bonding spell, which would not result in death, unlike the unbreakable vow. It would just cause sores for a couple of weeks and very… uncomfortable things.

"HEY WHAT WAS THAT FOR!" James yelped, pulling his hand back and inspecting it. Hermione grinned, raising her eyebrows innocently.

"That was just so that you don't break your vow." She smiled, while shrugging with such airiness, it looked like she could fly up and turn into a cloud. "So that you keep your promise and don't waver away from it when it's done."

"Oh it will be done!" Remus interjected with a somewhat-cheerful smile, which at least contrasted with the miserable frown he wore a matter of minutes before. "And we will win!" He continued confidently, crossing his strong arms over his chest. Doing so, he exposed the scars on his arms, which stung at Hermione's heart. Thank Merlin she concealed her own that morning. "I have no doubt in that." He looked to his right, where Sirius and James nodded in agreement.

"Alright!" Ginny smacked her lips after taking the last mouthful of Hermione's butterbeer. "The loss is yours, gentlemen. But now, I believe that I should leave you with my fellow companion Remus Lupin to discover the undiscovered village of Hogsmeade."

"I'd be honoured to m'lady." Remus bowed chivalrously and then offered her an arm with an overjoyed smile, as Ginny grinned and took it.

"Let's go blow some shit up, Lupin!" She whooped as they ran out of the stores, attracting shouts of a grumpy caretaker who flung his broom at them, nearly whacking their heads off, but the two Quidditch players had reactions fast enough to dart out of the store.

Hermione chuckled when she saw Remus uncertainly wobble at the door, probably wondering whether or not to apologize, offer compensations, but Ginny grabbed him by the hand and they were out of sight.

"What are you whispering about?" Lily snapped, almost in an interrogational tone, catching Hermione's attention. She was glaring at James and Sirius who were shaking hands and looked up simultaneously with identical innocent looks on their faces.

"Nothing." They chorused together like a couple of five year old who had just stolen jam from the kitchen and had sworn not to tell anyone about it.

"I will find out eventually." Lily promised in a low voice, almost in a deadly whisper, lowering her head to the table and resting it on her arms.

The hushed voices continued until the two boys once again nodded and shook hands. But the only thing that caught Hermione's attention was a missing member of the Marauders.

"Where's Peter?" She asked cautiously. "I haven't seen much of him since the beginning of the year. Actually, I don't think that I even got introduced to him properly." She declared, looking at the Marauders who didn't seem sure themselves.

Hermione knew perfectly that Peter was probably off with some senior Slytherins, getting marked as a Death Eater or relaying extremely secret information. Who knew, maybe he already gave them the Gryffindor password. James and Sirius didn't seem so sure either, judging by their vacant expressions and lopsided mouths. It seemed like they didn't even think much into the topic.

But it was true, from what Hermione had heard, that Peter trailed behind the Marauders all the time, mimicking their every step, which made him the most dangerous and lethal spy. He knew their movements, their habits, their abilities and their weaknesses and he would know when the time was right to strike. Yet, he showed no action.

It was also evident that the Marauders were used to being followed by people, especially Peter. Peter was like their number one fan, and was even considered a Marauder. Hermione couldn't have ever guessed how he got accepted into the group. Maybe they were all innocent kids at one stage. Or had some sort of bipolar change, which caused them to be nice one and take the poor innocent Peter under their wing.

But Hermione had no intention going back another seven years and changing that much. As the Dumbledore from the future had once told her, every minute, even every second counts when you're dealing with time. It may have to do with your words, your facial expressions or just your appearance.

"Pete was at the celebration yesterday, wasn't he?" James asked slowly, turning to Sirius, who nodded confidently.

"I'm sure of it. Saw him partying with some fifth year, I don't even know. I didn't pay attention." Sirius scratched his head, while tilting it to the side. "I'm not completely sure. The last couple of times I talked to him, he said that he had to do some sort of Potions assignment or Charms essay, but I can't quite remember. Since it had to do with work I waved it off."

Hermione raised her eyebrows in surprise, but Lily's reaction was priceless, because her hands were shaking and her face was turning red. The only thing was that the two boys were so concentrated on was Lily, they didn't notice the obvious discomfort of Severus Snape. Obviously, he was uncomfortable from the very beginning, but now he was so tense, you could throw a stone at his face and he wouldn't react. He probably even knew about Peter.

Luna noticed and was looking at him out of the corner of her eye. His usually pasty skin was an even paler white and it looked like he was shaking, while trying to distract himself with his worn Slytherin gloves.

James looked at Lily worriedly, but she paid no attention to him, because her eyes were glued on Sirius. Sirius too noticed Lily's little emotional seizure which was about to happen in a matter of seconds and couldn't find anything smart to say, so he propped his head on his hand and looked at her dumbly.

"Oh, don't worry, Lily. Remus does it all for us." He said so calmly, his voice seemed as smooth as a warm glass of milk, and at this Lily burst. She screamed, frustrated, grabbing her bag and whacking Sirius several times with it, which earned a darn good number of snickers from all across the Three Broomsticks.

"Come on, Hermione!" She huffed, flinging her bag over her shoulder, grabbing her books and abruptly getting up, as she strutted out of the pub. Hermione forced a smile and followed the storming Lily out. From the corner of her eye, she saw James smack Sirius with the book he had purchased at Scrivencraft's and the Head Boy ran after the two girls. Or Lily specifically.

Just as Hermione left the pub and ran along the wall, frantically searching for Lily she was immediately yanked back and pushed against the wall. The next thing she knew, a Disillusionment charm was cast upon her and she blended in with the wall.

The thing that grabbed her, well, using logical terms, the person who grabbed her gripped her tightly and quieted her down with a low "shhh". Just by the touch, Hermione understood that Lily was standing beside her and this immediately made her grin.

A split second after Hermione got the charm cast upon her, James ran out, panting furiously, as he glanced around wildly. He looked completely devastated, because Lily had once again run away from him. He fell on his knees, and Hermione even felt slightly bad for him and his miserable state. He glanced around frantically and was quick on his heels as he ran off into Hogsmeade, peeking in every shop.

"He really cares for you, you know." Hermione admitted slowly and truthfully, and waited for an answer.

"We just need time." The soft voice beside her answered. "Do you know anywhere we can go now?"

Hermione grinned and found Lily's hand. "I have the perfect place."

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**This was more of a cheerful chapter, which makes me happy, since some of the other chapters were a little suspenseful: just a tad (: **

**Butterbeer hunting… Yeah umm… About that… No clue where that came from, but it's okay! Now, a little Latin for you guys. **

**Formosus Hallucinatio – handsome hallucination, or "well-made" hallucination**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Reviews are extremely welcome! Any types, y'know, I have cookies… over here… I mean ahem, what who said that? **

**Till next time comrades!xxxx**

**Farewell!**

**GirlxMarauder**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I have never, do not, and never will own Harry Potter or any of its contents, except for the figment of my own imagination. **

**Just a warning: this is gonna be a big author's note, but a big chunk of the fic too. So if you don't wanna listen to me ramble, just skip ahead to the non-bolded text. **

**Heyy, guys, what's up? Well hopefully everything's great, because it's summer soon! Which means exams… But still, it's nice to have some warm weather around here. **

**Anyways, thank you to my lovely reviewers, who are so dedicated and wonderfully supportive: ****TS17isme****, ****.nerd****, ****casper22****, ****MiraclesHappen94****, ****Wiebee****, ****bhagi****, ****hummingpetal****, ****nikyta****, ****LillianMarie2****, ****FallenAshe****, ****The 13th Heart****, and last but not least ****Mrs. Theodore Nott****. **

**The 13th Heart****: I've gotta say, you did pretty well! Of course, I can't give anything away – you'll have to see over time. Maybe what you guessed is right, maybe it's not :D but it's pretty awesome that you went and put that much thought into it. I was sitting in Physics when I got the email and I was so impressed someone took a shot at it! Hope you enjoy the rest!**

**bhagi**** – really great idea! Hmm never thought of it, might consider putting it in somewhere :D**

** .nerd**** – that would've been hilarious hahah! Hey, you never know what I might throw in (;**

**Mrs. Theodore Nott**** - *virtual cookies* :D Oh, man that's awful! It's okay though, I'm sure it'll come back to you: one day it will just pop back into your head, and you'll remember. Yeah, about the Quidditch… I kinda have an obsession with Quidditch – so do the characters in the book, so it worked out… I had to include "over my dead body though"**

* * *

"**They don't kill you unless you light them," he said as Mom arrived at the curb. "And I've never lit one. It's a metaphor, see: You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing." ~Augustus Waters. (The Fault in our Stars, John Green)**

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Chapter 21

"Where are we going, Hermione?" Lily asked curiously, obviously intrigued with the idea of wandering off with a student who had been at the school for only a couple of months and already had an accommodating and safe hiding spot.

"You'll see." Hermione smiled mysteriously, as she continued dragging Lily across the grounds. All Hogwarts students and teachers were at Hogsmeade at that moment, since it was the peak of the day. There was completely no one around: this made both the castle and the grounds look entirely deserted.

It was slightly unfortunate that they didn't buy anything in Hogsmeade that day, but looking at it from another perspective it would've been completely chaotic. Since Hogsmeade visits were going to occur every Saturday, as they usually did, it would get much less crowded and a huge deathly crowd wouldn't be swarming the tiny village to get 'first buy of the year'. Although Hermione would never understand how she was still alive in 1977, whilst desperately craving Hogsmeade chocolate and sugar quills.

Effortlessly, yet strategically, the two girls wandered around the grounds until they approached a new and polished looking wooden log cabin. There were many gardening supplies carefully stacked at the entrance, yet the porch was clean with an ecstatically bright welcome mat. There was an unmistakable plentiful pumpkin patch, the vegetables as round and as wide as could get. They seemed to be on the verge of bursting open.

Hermione smiled, as Lily was quite taken back. Out of all places, this one? But yes. Hermione loved this place. She loved the homey smell, the sweet talks and even the rock cakes.

"The keeper of the keys?" Lily whispered hoarsely, leaning over Hermione's shoulder and cautiously looking around at the same time. "Are we allowed to be here?"

Hermione considered, kicked a stone shaped like a crustacean shell, which comically reminded her of the day they were saving Sirius. "Why not? You're the Head Girl, and I doubt you're not allowed to be at a certain place, especially here. I don't think that there's some sort of vial punishment against visiting Hagrid. He seems like a pretty nice guy."

Lily looked at her in a shocked manner and stumbled in surprise, "There aren't… any rules _against _it, I'm just not sure if it's morally right." She muttered, looking down in embarrassment. "Plus, no one ever visits Hagrid."

"Well there's always a first person." Hermione pointed out, as they started climbing up the large steps. Hermione was trudging forward confidently, when Lily seemed a little meddled and unsure of herself. "And it must get awfully lonely when no one visits you." Hermione sighed a little…

"I guess you're right." Lily finally agreed, taking a deep breath as Hermione placed a hand on the knocker, and rapped on the door. A loud sound was heard through the whole hut: the knocker was so heavy it seemed like it could cause the door to burst into splinters, but nevertheless there was movement heard inside: heavy, slightly hurried steps coming towards the door.

Lily seemed to be slightly terrified and shocked by the idea, for she had gone pale all over. Hermione considered this ironic because Lily was always one for public speaking and was usually quite confident in her communication skills. The thing that probably rattled her even more was the extremely unfriendly muddy galoshes and crossbow standing outside the front door.

"If yer those no-good Slyth'rin boys 'gain, I will tear yer heads off, I'm telling ya—" the voice was heard as the steps were right at the door, and the huge door swung open (Hermione was quick enough to push Lily back to avoid from getting hit in the face). "Oh…" Hagrid stuttered awkwardly, because the presence of the Head Girl, whose badge was gleaming on her chest, and the new pureblood girl were at his door. For some reason it seemed to thoroughly startle him. "Sorry there. Di'int see ya."

"It's alright." Hermione smiled warmly, leaving her first year shyness in a big dust cloud far behind her. "I'm Hermione White, and I just started my seventh year at Hogwarts, even though I'm new. Lily and I were wandering around and I was just curious about—well, everything in fact. Starting from the castle to the Forbidden Forest."

"Ts'okay Hermione, because it's alright to be curious. I'm quite curious meself. Remember the firs' time I came t'Hogwarts, now that was some day." He rumbled thoughtfully. Then, suddenly realizing what kind of a situation he was in, he asked as politely as possible. "Well since we're 'ere, would you two like a nice cup o' tea?"

Hermione looked questioningly at an unsure Lily, who finally gained confidence, being Head Girl, and nodded her head agreeably. "We're not in a rush, so I don't see why not."

Looking immensely pleased, Hagrid opened the door and gestured for the girls to walk in. Once they were in, he skimmed inside quickly; collecting unwashed pots and pans, but otherwise nothing seemed to be different. Of course there was a lack of magical creatures hiding out in his hut, and Fang wasn't there to growl in a friendly way every two minutes, but it was more than guaranteed that Hagrid would get him soon enough.

Hermione looked around cheerfully and inhaled the senses. She always liked Hagrid's hut. It had a high ceiling and honestly looked very antique. Hams and pheasants were hanging near the window, a copper kettle was happily whistling on the stove, surrounded by many other pots. Different specimens hung both on the wall and were distributed into jars on the shelves. A massive bed stood in the corner with an autumn-coloured quilt covering it.

"Teak a seat, make yerselves at home." Hagrid called to the two of them, gesturing to the large pine table, covered with a white tablecloth with a red and yellow flower design, which Hermione found simply hilarious and adorable. Lily still seemed uneasy as she eyed the rock cakes Hagrid had hurriedly placed on the table.

Hermione sat and politely crossed her arms. It was nice to know that Hagrid never changed, and since he was such a great friend to her when she was younger, she was sure that they would become immediate friends now. Hagrid was always there when she was sad, or angry, or confused.

"Erm—I've never had students come down 'ere before. But it's really nice 'at you two did. Always great t'have some nice company. I'm usually all alone with me pumpkins and pheasants and such, but they do just as well." He poured some hot tea and handed it out to the girls, who thanked him eagerly.

Lily tried to take a bite from the rock cake, nearly shattering her teeth, and while Hagrid was looking away, she quickly put it back, causing Hermione to chuckle soundlessly and shake her head.

"Well one of my friends, he was um—something like a poacher, he lived by the forest and owned many different magical creatures." Hermione said, sipping her tea and looking over at Hagrid who took a seat beside her. There was a flash of excitement and enthusiasm in Hagrid's eye.

"Magical creatures? What kind?" A spark of inspiration sparked in his beady black eyes, causing them to lit up immediately.

"Oh all different kinds," Hermione waved him off nonchalantly. "He took care of the unicorns in our forest, he had a three headed dog, which was slightly terrifying, but he gave it away in the end. He showed Luna and I some Blast-Ended Skrewts once, and that was extremely painful… Also one time he bought a dragon egg." Hermione continued listing off excitedly, but decided not to go too deep into it, so that she wouldn't disrupt the timeline.

"Really? That's fascinating, that is." Hagrid marveled, taking a bite out of his rock cake, which he bit off as if it was a piece of cake. Lily's jaw dropped as she witnessed Hagrid eat it with such ease, whereas she severely suffered simply with nibbling off a little bit. "Always wanted some creatures for meself, but never found a way to get 'em."

After what seemed like an hour of talking to Hagrid, Lily nudged Hermione and gestured at the clock, meaning that it was getting dark soon and dinner would be served. Hagrid noticed the little gesture and understood as well.

"Ye must be goin'. It's gettin' late and you should get to yer dinner with all yer friends." He said, collecting their cups and putting them onto the counter, as Hermione and Lily got up and headed for the door.

"It was nice talking to you, Hagrid." Lily said to him kindly, and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"It was great to make a new friend! Especially for me." She simplified jokingly, as Hagrid patted her on the back in a friendly way.

"Nice to meet yer too. Come along any time if ya want, yer always welcome." He said to them as the two nodded and thanked him. They exited the hut and started climbing up the hill towards the castle entrance.

It was getting dark, as the cool evening wind picked up and carried the autumn fragrances, which the two girls inhaled deeply. Hermione noticed that the warmth of the summer had already gone and now the piercing northern wind had finally flown in. It wasn't the playful spring breeze everyone loved, but it was cold and one blow of it caused cooled your heart to the temperature of Antarctic snow.

Luckily, her thick Hogwarts cloak was protecting her from all sides, but her hair was tossed back and forth, has Hermione cursed growing it out long and leaving it down for the day.

They eagerly climbed until they finally reached the doors, where the last of the students were coming back from Hogsmeade in tight huddles. Professor McGonagall, looking unpleased as ever, was standing at the door, and ushering students to head to the Great Hall for dinner.

It might've been the start of winter irking the teacher, or the miserable weather or maybe disturbing news, but the only thing Hermione's mind could process at that moment was the warmth of the Entrance Hall and the delicious smell of cooking food.

It was the first time in her life Hermione felt like Ronald, as she imagined the plates piled with food awaiting her. She even froze in her tracks to savour the smell coming from the kitchens, but snapped out of her little trance due to Lily pulling on her sleeve.

Hours later, after finishing an astoundingly perfect dinner, Hermione and Lily were lounging side by side in the Common Room. Everyone was tired that evening, so no party was held, much to James and Sirius' disappointment.

At the beginning of the year, they planned to have a Gryffindor Party every Saturday, but Lily strictly limited that down to once a month and for Quidditch games only. After multiple sighs and pleads, the Marauders finally agreed. Sirius was still irritated by the fact that James let it happen, and apparently to him his buddy was 'losing his touch' and was 'getting whipped by a woman'. But James never denied those facts, and spun out of them with cheeky remarks.

Everyone in the Common Room was silent – the fire was crackling happily, releasing a thick aroma of burnt wood, which was surprisingly soothing. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were playing a game of Exploding Snap; Ginny was playing chess against a fourth year girl, though she denied any interest in the game at the beginning of the year; Luna in the far corner, observing the room colourful loopy looking glasses… (Everyone was used to Luna by now.)

"Can this moment just never end?" Lily yawned, stretching out on like the cat on a lazy Sunday morning. "As much as I love learning, I cannot tolerate some things about it."

"It's impossible. At least we have our time now to relax and just be alone in peace." Hermione closed her eyes, as she replied to her friend. "Before James decides to blow something up in this room and you're gonna have to clean it up."

Lily groaned, muffling her voice by putting a pillow on her face. "Let's just cross our fingers and hope that he doesn't do anything stupid, like he usually does." Hermione just nodded and hummed in reply, as Lily continued to hum. "He's not stupid, I know he's not. Have you seen any of his marks? He has O's in almost everything. He just acts stupid, and tries to get attention."

"I wonder why…" Hermione's voice dripped with sarcasm as she raised her eyebrows and turned her head to Lily, who rolled her eyes and even blushed a little.

"If he wanted to impress me, he could just—"

"Damn it, Sirius! You cheated!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"You're insufferable!"

"You're such a liar!"

"No!"

"Reducto!"

BOOM!

A crackling explosion sounded out unexpectedly. The energy wave generated was so strong, everyone was thrown back, as Hermione, Lily and Luna to jump up and whip out their wands. Dark billowing smoke started to erupt from the corner where the four Gryffindors were playing Exploding Snap. Everyone starts coughing and waving their hands to clear out the air, until someone realized that opening a window would be more effective.

As unexpected and disrupting the explosion was, James was on the floor on his back, clutching onto his stomach, laughing his heart out, while pointing at Sirius' not amused, blackened ash-covered face.

"Guess your lady calls for you." Hermione laughed, lying back down onto the couch, as she received a snort from Lily.

As predicted, the noise level in the room increased by a good fifty percent, due to Lily scolding James for setting a poor example, not showing the proper qualities of a Head Boy, being an insufferable, intolerable git who struts around the place like he owns everything, and everything else everyone had already heard before.

Hermione smiled sleepily at the scene, but it was quite adorable. James attempted to look innocent, but to Lily, this was just another one of his tricks. She was waving her hands, screeching away, pointing at Sirius, who stubbornly still hadn't moved from his previous position, proclaiming that he would only move if Hermione would so very delicately remove the soot off his face by hand, to which Hermione snorted and shook her head.

But because of all the ruckus caused by James and Sirius, no one, which includes absolutely not a single person in the room, noticed how little Peter Pettigrew, jittery as ever, excused himself and was out the door.

The quiet thud of the portrait hole was the only remaining evidence of Pettigrew's prior presence, and before she knew it, Hermione's feet were taking her Merlin knows where. Her war-like tracking reflexes tingled as she regarded the moving staircases. Students weren't out in the halls too often on Saturday evening, thankfully making it slightly easier for Hermione.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed the flash of a black cloak, causing her to run down a set of stairs and stop herself before she made an appearance in the doorway, and she nearly slipped on something.

Before she could make a noise, she caught herself and looked at her feet. A singed exploding snap card lay on the ground. Hermione thanked Merlin once again for leaving her this clue and now she knew that she was on track. Uneven on-edge steps were heard down the hall, which Hermione recognized as the Gryffindor's. She didn't know how, but she could differentiate odd things, and identify reoccurring details: stuff like that. This connected her and Luna even more, causing them to be almost telepathically connected.

"Which is pretty curious." A voice marveled from behind her, causing Hermione to spin around immediately, wand drawn, even though she knew by the sound of the voice, no dueling would be necessary. "We could be like Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson! By attitude I believe you would resemble Watson more, but by your problem solving skills you'd by like Sherlock. Your mind is pretty chaotic."

Hermione couldn't help but smile. "Luna. Hey." She placed her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows. "What are you doing here?"

"Most likely the same thing as you: following that Peter Pettigrew." Luna compiled for her friend, bouncing up and down, while twirling a piece of hair between her fingers.

"How did you know?"

"Well the absence of two people in a room might not seem two obvious when there is a crowd of people around a couple of desperate lovebirds experiencing skinny love." Luna stated dreamily, as if she was writing a romantic fan fiction for her OTP. "But I notice everything. I know who walks in and out, and though I may be distracted sometimes, I can always get the Spincers to inform me."

The hall was silent, as Hermione raised her eyebrow foolishly. "Spincers?" She asked, causing Luna to stare her down.

"Oh yes. They're spies. They're everywhere." She whispered cautiously, looking around and twirling around once. "But the key is to know how to control them."

"I'd be blessed to learn more about these later, but we should get going if we want to catch Peter Pettigrew on time." Hermione said warningly ushering her friend, who nodded and set off in a jog behind her.

After humming a strange tune for a couple of minutes, Luna rambled about her idea, with which is seemed like she was completely intrigued with. "Or we could always be called Sherlock Watson and John Holmes. That could always work."

This was the moment when Hermione was allowed to snort and get distracted slightly from their mission of searching in never-ending halls for that darned Gryffindor pest. Hermione was so thankful that Luna was here with her. If there was no one to cheer her up all the time, the daughter of Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw would probably go crazy before Madam Hooch could say 'Quidditch'. And she said it pretty darn fast.

The disadvantage of having moments of deep thoughts and small distractions was that Hermione always put herself on autopilot, and tragedy was bound to strike. Like this time: her thoughts were interrupted by a painful nose and a moment of falling onto the floor. _Great going, Hermione! Perfect moment to crash into a wall._ She groaned, gripping her poor nose, which, luckily, wasn't bleeding, but was nevertheless aching with no end.

"You really shouldn't get distracted too much." Luna noted thoughtfully, scratching her head with her wand. "Now I understand why you try to act serious all the time! Because you're clumsier than Severus on a Sunday morning!"

"Is that bad?" Hermione groaned, still gripping her nose.

"It's not necessarily satisfactory, but if nothing else can, it will do!" Luna smiled cheerfully.

But Hermione cursed under her breath. They lost sight and sound of Pettigrew. Maybe it was all her extra thoughts rolling through her brain, or maybe she just mistaken Peter Pettigrew for a drunk dancing Hufflepuff, which wasn't likely. In any case, there was no proof that Pettigrew had even been in this hall. Hermione just followed her gut when she ran, causing her to remember the saying her parents always said to her.

Her parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger. They always used to say. "If your brain is telling you that something's right, you should do it and use your moral judgment. But if you have a feeling in your gut, you should go out of your way to follow it. Even if your brain catastrophically contradicts your gut feeling, rules need to be bended and sometimes even broken, so that you can do the right thing."

Maybe her gut was not always right? Maybe in the wizarding world it was quite the other way around? _If only I had the Marauder's Map here with me. _

"I do." Luna stated simply, as if reading Hermione's mind. It caused the brunette to blink several times before realizing what actually happened.

"What?"

"I have the Marauder's Map." Luna answered again, not moving any both part except for her mouth.

"How did you know I wanted it?" Hermione regarded her suspiciously. Was she getting sloppy with her Occlumency, because there was no way Luna could know what she was thinking.

"Well, I believe that lately you have developed quite a strange tendency to reason out loud, which is not necessarily a bad thing." Luna added on cheerfully, but her face turned somber again. "But if the information you're rambling about gets put into the wrong hands… You're doomed."

How could Hermione be so stupid! She _did_ notice that she started talking out loud and luckily she did it only with insignificant people and insignificant random statements, which honestly wouldn't hurt a fly. But if this habit was going to get worse, there was something that had to be done.

Usually, Hermione reviewed this skill when she was studying. While creating multiple hundreds of scrolls of notes for her personal well-being, she was used to mumbling, repeating words, sentences, phrases, sounding out words, deciding whether or not the vocabulary was appropriate in the context. The mumbling became quite a habit after her first year, when she returned home for the summer, she would add logical and intelligent afterthoughts to her statements, as if trying to scribble them out and rewrite them. Sometimes, it would really irk Mr. and Mrs. Granger.

But luckily, she got over that habit and it didn't come up any time after that.

"Why didn't you tell me you had it here before?" Hermione hissed at her friend, groaning once again, but thankfully the pain in her nose turned into a dull throb. "It would've been much quicker if you just—"

"—Hermione? Is that you?" A voice sounded down the hall, as footsteps neared and Hermione gasped and turned around to see Logan Bell approaching her from the other end of the hall.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me." Hermione smiled kindly in reply, reassuring him.

Logan smiled cheerfully, for some reason quite happy to see her, "I thought it was you. It did sound like you. Oh, hello, Luna." He added on when he saw Luna behind Hermione, who was twirling once again, looking up to the ceiling. She stopped and looked over in the direction of the voice.

"Hello, Logan."

"So, Hermione did you go to Hogsmeade today?" He asked her as Hermione nodded giddily.

"Mhm, yes I did."

"And how did you like it?"

"Oh, it was brilliant! Just as I imagined it to be! I just wish I had more time to walk around, but there were so many people, it was just a mush down there!" Hermione exclaimed, telling the truth and the only thing she was upset about from the Hogsmeade trip.

She remembered how she liked to stroll around Hogsmeade in her earlier years, even though she didn't have many friends to walk around with, since Harry and Ron were always either in Honeydukes, the Quidditch shop, Zonko's or The Three Broomsticks. This limited her visits from her favourite bookstores and quiet reading time, to grabbing whatever book she had in spare time and mulling all the words over and over again.

Logan seemed amused with Hermione's excitement, but nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it gets rough the first couple of times. But after that, it's a piece of cake and there's always a tolerable amount of people. You'll get used to it, I promise."

"Oh I don't doubt it." Hermione grinned at her friend, who returned the grin and ruffled his own hair, before flattening it out again.

"I heard many girls started shopping for their dresses, so the tailors' was completely crammed." He told her, as she shook her head in amusement and he regarded her strangely. "You didn't go to any of the shops? Or look around for dresses?"

"Firstly I think that it's stubbornly early to go dress shopping. Everything is ridiculously crammed and there is no way to get through." Hermione explained with a small laugh. "Also, I'm not too much of a girl who fancies dresses and shopping. If I ever need anything in like that, Ginny's my professional in that area of expertise."

Logan chuckled, nodding and scolding himself, "I can't believe I actually asked you that. I'm pretty sure I knew previously that you weren't that type of a girl. It would be out of the ordinary if you bought a dress on your first Hogsmeade trip."

"Ah, well, I don't necessarily let my feminine side take much control over me." Hermione snorted cheerfully rubbing her face with her hands. "If you saw me as a child, you'd probably have nightmares about me. I wasn't a wild child, which meant that I constantly buried my head in a book, or was playing with my two friends. So nothing on the basis of 'mother and daughter shopping night' or 'family sleepover' ever happened for me."

"I don't think you were that bad." Logan interjected, rolling his eyes. He obviously didn't know what he was talking about, Hermione thought. Logan seemed to be interested in Hermione's past but she wasn't quite willing to tell any of it at the moment. It was a protective little side of her that prevented any stranger or little-acquainted friend to find out more about her.

Especially about her dreaded past.

"Oh I was, trust me." Hermione contradicted him almost a little too roughly. "But, of course," She sighed, drawing her eyes away from Logan and examining Luna, who was examining one of the tapestries on the wall, "I had my friends who supported me by making fun of me and giving me the blast of my life."

"At least you had them, huh?" Logan laughed sheepishly, making his way past her, creating the impression that he wanted Hermione to follow him there, but he suddenly stopped in realization.

"Are you two going somewhere?" He looked suggestively from Luna to Hermione, as he gestured towards the direction of the Common Room. "Or are you planning to go elsewhere?"

Hermione fiddled with her thoughts, thinking quickly. She obviously had to lie, since openly stating that she was planning to stalk Pettigrew probably wasn't the best of ideas. The boy was so innocent, but he was smart: and if an unstable or poorly-supported lie was told, Logan would definitely get suspicious.

Right when Hermione collected her thoughts, and was about to answer his question, Luna interrupted her happily, "We're following a liar and a murderer! We've known him for quite a while but now we have to corner him and we have to see what crime he's up to next! It's up to us to save the world and prevent eternal collapse." She nodded at Logan.

His expression was completely unreadable. He was definitely amused, judging by the corner of his lips twitching upwards, but he held a genuinely confused expression, which might've possibly been a mix of deciding whether or not he should run for his life or bring Luna to the Hospital Wing. Probably both of the options.

Deciding to save Logan from his brain crushing misery, Hermione justified for him, "We were just going down to the kitchens to grab a bite." He looked like he was about to offer to walk them there, like a perfect gentleman, but Hermione was not completely in the mood to talk about sappy stories of her childhood. She was on a manhunt. "It's okay, Logan. Besides, Luna was just telling me about these creatures, what are they called again?" she turned towards Luna.

Luna was still examining the wall, but she responded to the question dreamily, "Was it the Nargles again?"

"No…" Hermione said thoughtfully, starting looking at the ceiling, trying to remember what the names of those tiny little creatures were. "Not the Nargles…"

"Maybe the Spincers?" Luna asked again, and Hermione snapped, looking at her friend triumphantly.

"Spincers! That's the one!" She exclaimed gleefully, punching the air and turning back around to Logan. "They're tiny creatures. Very lethal thought. Used as spies I believe. They understand English, so they can report and interpret anything the victim is saying." Hermione nodded knowledgeably, and turned to Luna, "Is that right Luna?"

"Precisely." She agreed dreamily, and suddenly turned to the two Gryffindors, her midnight blue eyes blazing in the dim lightning. This caused Hermione to think that she was in some sort of Trelawney-like coma. Maybe Luna was a seer? "Even though they're tiny, they can use dangerous weapons. Sometimes they can brainwash you and you won't remember anything that happened. Some say it's stronger than _Obliviate_." Luna informed Logan, who was looking extremely on-edge at that moment.

That would definitely creep the poor boy out. Hermione didn't mean to scare him, but when she was after something, all distractions had to be removed, and unfortunately in this situation Logan Bell was considered a distraction. She would make it up to him in some way later. Hermione was just trying to somehow telepathically connect with Logan and be like an inner angel voice, telling him to take the bait.

And luckily he did.

"Well if you ladies don't need any help finding the kitchens, I must be off. I have some unattended business to get to." He smiled, forcefully gulping, although for a moment he looked intrigued, "Excuse me."

And he was gone, as Hermione sighed in relief, and looked at Luna whose expression went back to normal.

Hermione looked at her friend with a confused expression. She frowned at her. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" Luna asked her hopping on one leg.

"Your eyes blazed for a minute or two, when you were creeping Logan out." Hermione shivered, because the effect that Luna's eyes hard was disturbing, going out of her every day vocabulary, it was plain creepy.

"Oh, I've been working on that trick for a while." Luna said off-handedly, tapping her wand against her thigh distractedly. "I think it's starting to work."

"It definitely is." Hermione shuddered, suddenly imagining Luna developing laser vision and shooting down Voldemort's army with muggle lasers. It was ridiculous that such a brilliant mind like hers was thinking about destroying the Dark Lord's army with muggle weapons, but even the silliest and most unpredictable events happened in life.

For example, who would've thought that after years of growing up in a strict British family and learning muggle morals, Hermione Granger was actually superior to Draco Malfoy, even after all the times he picked on her because of her social status.

Everything was completely bizarre in this world; therefore, making hypotheses was nearly impossible.

"I had a couple of projects I set for myself when we arrived here." Luna explained simply. 'Projects' in Luna's world probably meant insane amounts of potion making, experiments, discoveries, interaction with magical creatures and bunch of other dangerous stuff that would worry a normal human being. But then again, it wasn't a normal human being. It was Luna. "Some of them I have already accomplished, some are in process and some I just don't know how to star. But we'll get there." She added seriously.

As much as Hermione would love to discuss future sadistic and/or mythical goals Luna had in mind, they were on a mission to discover Pettigrew, find out his social status during that time period and analyze what they could do something about him.

If they even could.

The trouble with going back so late in the Marauders' years was the possibility of everything slipping. If they went back and somehow relived their childhoods, connected with James, Sirius and Remus, there would've been a completely different story. Maybe they wouldn't even befriend Peter and he wouldn't even be placed into Gryffindor, but Slytherin instead. Even then, they might've not become the closest of friends, or one of them might've developed deeper feelings for one of the girls. That's why they decided it was best that they came later, even though they didn't really have a choice.

"Luna, the Map." Hermione finally remembered as her brain flickered back to reality. Her friend just nodded eagerly and reached into her purse, which, for some reason, Hermione didn't notice until that moment, stuck her hand it and brought out the old but gold piece of parchment.

"_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good_." Hermione uttered, pointing her wand at the Map. Black ink carefully started to appear on the paper, until the spare piece of parchment turned into the key of the Marauders' success. As expected, many, if not most of the students were in their dorms/Common Rooms. Teachers were in their quarters. Filch and Norris were wandering around the Transfiguration Corridor, just about to run into Violetta Bulstrode.

Hermione's eyes dodged from paper to paper, as she flipped the different folds carefully, yet diligently. She didn't want the Map to rip. She was quite surprised that it hadn't ripped before: it went on so many adventures and ventured through so many experiences, there was definitely some spell still holding it together.

Finally, she found the two dots representing Luna and herself. From that, she made assumptions. Luna helped her flip the folds and search for the names, which wasn't as easy as one thought. Finally after a dreadfully long and irritating two or three minutes of searching, just as Hermione was about to flip another fold, Luna stopped her with her wand and tapped the paper on three dots in the depth of the dungeons.

Hermione sighed in relief that they had finally found Peter, and he didn't mysteriously disappear off the Map of Hogwarts. This brought her to the conclusion that her suspicions about Peter were correct.

But as soon as Hermione glanced at the paper to triumphantly convince herself, she was in shock. She gasped, as her eyes widened. She couldn't believe what she saw, making her heart to skip a couple of bits, as if her blood suddenly turned into hard and unforgiving ice. One of the dots was Althorp Avery, and the other was Benedict Nott. But the last name did not belong to Peter Pettigrew.

It belonged to Sirius Black.

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**Dun dun dun duuuuuun. **

**By the way, happy belated Victoria Day to anyone out there who celebrates it out there! It was quite hilarious, Monday evening that is. I was sitting at home, on my bed, typing away another chapter (fireworks are fizzing, exploding, just getting set off outside), etcetera. My window was open at that time, because it was hot and my parents refused to turn on the air conditioner. So suddenly, the temperature drops by like five degrees in my room, and right when a firework goes off, lightning crackles across the sky and thunder just booms! I jumped up because it was so unexpected. But I love the rain. And thunder. So it's was all good (It was like the lightning said "let me show you some real fireworks") :D **

**Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, and you have a burning passion in your soul to ask me questions, leave comments or just say hello, you may: I am more than happy to accept any reviews!**

**Anyways, have a good one! Hope to see you soon! xxxx**

**GirlxMarauder**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: unfortunately, I don't own Harry Potter and never will. **

**Hello, guys. Sorry I haven't updated in such a long time. End of the semester: banquets, exams, dinners, sicknesses ughhh. Since the summer's coming up I'll try to update more than ever. :3**

**Thank you for being patient, because I love all of you, and the truest will never ditch me… Although many of you are probably slightly pissed or annoyed with me because of my lack of updating the last… month. But thank you for waiting. (: Means a lot!**

**Thank you to my readers and reviewers: ****TsukiyoTenshi****, ****Mrs. Theodore Nott****, ****Ollivanders Shop****, **** .nerd****, ****TS17isme****, ****Wiebee****, ****Divergent-Slytherin-Victor****, ****hummingpetal****, ****hotwingincident****, ****Splashing-in-a-Puddle****, ****SattlerSister90****, ****I'maguestpeeps****, ****courtneykramer94****, and the Guests!**

**Hope you enjoy the next chapter.**

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"**My love for you was bulletproof, but you're the one who shot me." ~Bulletproof Love (Pierce the Veil)**

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**Chapter 22**

Hermione was dumbfounded. She didn't know what to feel. Betrayal? Loss of Hope? Denial? What was Sirius doing down in the dungeon? He was just up in the Common Room a couple of minutes ago, making a completely fool of himself. Most importantly why was he talking to Nott and Avery? A Gryffindor had no place amongst Slytherins and it made practically no sense that he appeared to be simply conversing with him! He wasn't into dark magic, was he? Was it the arrival of the girls that changed him? He always said he hated the Death Eaters.

A million questions flooded Hermione's head, immediately causing her to feel faint. She felt so light-headed, she almost forgot to breathe. What was happening?

Luna put a reassuring hand on Hermione's shoulder. "I'm sure he's not doing anything bad." She told her seriously. "Maybe they had a fight, or he made fun of him for something and Sirius is getting back at him."

"But Sirius doesn't care what people think of him." Hermione pouted angrily, almost worriedly, as she crossed her arms and furrowed her eyebrows. The Map never lied. That was the catch of the whole situation. Did James know Sirius was gone?

"Well you do know that we can just go and find out?" Hermione could basically hear the smirk on her friend's face and wanted to groan at her own mindset. Of course they could. And what was she thinking? She was trying to find ways to prove Sirius innocent in any scenario possible, when the two of them could go and physically find out the reason of this odd late-night rendez-vous.

Her mind was racing with possible answers to the situation. She had hypotheses. But each one she came up with was worse than the previous. And none of them were in favour of Sirius anyway: they were dark and dangerous, which was extremely painful from Hermione's sad. She racked her brain, as the two girls sprinted through the deserted hallways, which carried no signs of human life.

_Think, Holmes, think. Sirius has to be innocent. He'd never go against his good will. _Hermione racked her brain for answers, but none came. Her face was flushed red, either from over thinking or running so fast, but either way, this had never happened together. Throughout the years of running away from monsters, fighting them or running _after_ them, Hermione learned how to control her thoughts and feelings, but now everything in her head was going berserk.

It was either the fact that Sirius made all girls go crazy for him both physically, socially and mentally, or Hermione was simply loosing it.

Hermione was so deep in her thoughts, she nearly lost control of her actions and Luna had to stop her before she ran too close to the crime scene they were heading for. Luckily, Lovegoods were swift on their legs, as Luna clapped a hand over her friend's mouth and pulled her behind a corner.

"Are you nuts, Hermione Granger?!" Luna hissed at her friend, her eyes full of disbelief and a slight tinge of anger. Her arms were still wrapped tightly around her friend, just in case she suddenly completely lost her mind and would go on a killing spree or something of that sort. At least that was what Hermione assumed, by the look in Luna's eyes. "We have to be quiet! Galloping down the hall like a herd of elephants _won't help._"

Hermione was slightly afraid of Luna at that moment, because right as she finished, she pulled the two of them into a dark corner. At first, Hermione was scared that she was going to get tied up, gagged with some old cloth, and be forced to breathe in chloroform, but surprisingly all Luna did… was nothing.

They sat there in silence, they breaths slowing down until Hermione's heart was back to normal.

"Do you think you can handle tip-toeing in the halls now?" Luna suddenly whispered in the darkness, her hands still covering Hermione's mouth, hence all Hermione could do was nod. "Good, because we'll have to be really quiet, if we want to hear whatever they're talking about." Luna added on, before she unclamped her hand off of Hermione's mouth.

The brunette ruffled her own hair and wiped her mouth, as the two girls carefully slipped out of the darkness of the corner and into the dimly lit hallway. Now that they were in the dungeon, there was almost no light, except for an eerie dull lamp, slightly tinted green, swinging from the ceiling. The light added on to the major tension, which was already present before the change in brightness.

Swiftly and softly as a pair of cats, the two girls pressed themselves up against the wall and carefully made their way down the hall. Luna took out the Map again and gestured to Hermione where the boys were located. As if on cue, their deep voices echoed through the hall. The words were incoherent, but the tone of the voice was dead serious, if not deadly.

Hermione took lead, after observing the map and noting that they would only have to take a couple of turns until reaching the boys, and she was right. In a few seconds after thinking of how dark and cold it was in the dungeons, a voice made her heart drum at such an upbeat tempo, she felt like it was going to pop straight out of her chest.

"You're still not answering our question." The voice was deep and slightly raspy, and was definitely not Sirius' silky smooth one.

"Neither are you." Another voice replied. Now this was Sirius. His tone was low and dangerous: as dangerous as playing with fiendfyre, which was not at all fun in any way. Hermione had only heard Sirius talking in such a tone a couple of times before, and the ends of those conversations usually ended up in somebody getting hexed or severely beaten up.

"You're just asking for it, Black. You were the one who came down here looking for us." The third voice said, and this one Hermione recognized as Avery's. So the other one must've been Nott.

Hermione felt Luna pull a strand of her hair back, which probably wasn't the best idea, since the action was quite painful. When she furiously turned around and glared at Luna, all her friend did was roll her eyes and gestured for Hermione to move up a little bit, so that they could have a better view of the scene. Finally understanding her gesture, Hermione warily crawled slowly towards the voices until they were just around the corner.

And as they, or at least Hermione, had predicted, it was Sirius, Nott and Avery. Sirius wasn't cornered, for he was standing with his usual aristocratic ease, although there was a threatening thick air surrounding him, the tension of which Hermione could feel from meters away. She didn't understand how Sirius was keeping himself together, judging by his posture. The air even made both of the girls tense.

Nott was tall and stringy as his son once was. He had an army buzz cut, which made his features stand out. Hermione imagined that his parents were not the wealthiest of the purebloods, judging by the material of his clothes in comparison to the robes on Sirius, yet Nott did not look poor. His sharp features, elegant eyebrows and perfectly sculptured jaw definitely made a statement.

Avery, the second Slytherin, was bulky and crude looking. He looked somewhat like an ogre, even though there had been physiques much worse that Hermione had encountered in her life. He had a square jaw, fairly large nose, which seemed to be his dominant feature, and dirty blond hair sleeked back, although it wasn't as great as Draco's. It looked as if Avery tried to join the Malfoy family, whilst referring to the only bad family photo they had.

It was a cruel thought, but it had to be thought.

The two Slytherins seemed to be viciously snarling at Sirius, as he, that arrogant ponce, remained unblemished and unaffected by any of their gazes. He was through things much worse, both physically and socially.

But the waves of strong magic continued to flow from around Sirius, and the more time went by, the more uneasy the Slytherins were getting – Avery wrenched out his wand, as Nott elegantly fiddled with his own, as a long moment of silence proceeded. Hermione looked back at Luna questionably, but the blond shrugged slightly and waved for her to continue watching, at which Hermione rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Alright, Black! What tricks are you here for?" It seemed as if Avery couldn't take the overwhelming silence anymore. He carelessly jabbed his wand in Sirius' direction, causing Hermione to scowl. Even after years of practice, wizards still managed to foolishly jab their wands at everything. "You're out your Gryffindor hiding, now what do you want from the dungeons? You ain't getting any birds from here."

Sirius' position didn't change, and all that was heard was a deep sight. "Firstly, Avery, I would've thought that in all these years of Hogwarts they would've taught you that waving your wand around like that will not do any good. You will take someone's eye out eventually." He stated, crossing his arms over his chest, making Hermione smile suddenly.

_That's my boy_.

It took Avery a moment to think of what to say, but eventually he thought of something. "If I do, hopefully it will be yours!" Looking extremely proud with his payback, a devious smirk overcame Avery's face, which Hermione wouldn't have wanted to see. For a moment she wanted to clap to praise his success, but immediately stopped this nonsensical part of her brain.

"Let's not get there." Sirius replied dryly. "It your wand was to go flying, you'd miss me by miles." He drawled, literally causing Avery to start inflate like a balloon and reddening like unprotected skin in the Sahara desert, but luckily his friend, probably slightly more intelligent, was there to save the day.

"What do you want, Black." Nott asked in a bored tone, immediately dropping the previous subject. "If you wanted to see your brother, you could've said so in the first place and avoided misinterpretation and conflict at such a late hour on a Saturday night. We need to be at places too, so if you don't waste your time if you don't waste ours."

"This _is_ about Regulus. But it's not that I want to see him. We have another matter that I have to sort out between you, your 'buddies' and him." Sirius' voice dropped, pulling down the temperature and light in the room as well. It was suddenly murky and cold, as an even more suspenseful are crawled upon.

The corridor was as quiet as an ancient graveyard; as if no living souls had been seen in a millennia. The air was thick and moist, quite like the one you would feel a couple of minutes before a long and gloomy summer storm. Hermione felt like either she was sweating, or hyperventilating, because her robes were sticking quite uncomfortably to her skin.

The greenish light made the place look darker and murkier. That made it feel like you were drifting off into a deep sleep, but those surrounding you just wouldn't decide to quit talking, so you were partially suspended into the dark abyss of your resting mind. It even made them feel more and more tired, even though Hermione felt absolutely no comfort being surrounded by green while falling asleep.

It was amazing how this was all caused by the tone of someone's voice. And this was all affecting the two girls. Each felt like the sound of their heartbeat could be heard by the three boys, but none had turned around in suspicion. In fact, they were all too focused staring each other down.

"Then what is it? It must be a serious or fairly touchy matter since you're here without your bodyguards. Pettigrew must've been so disappointed to miss your company." Nott sneered at Peter's name, as Hermione flinched a bit.

"I don't need to have my _friends _here" Sirius emphasized, as his hand wandered down to his back pocket, where his wand was awaiting him eagerly. "If I wanted to fight you, I could myself without anybody's help, and there would be nothing left of you but a slimy snake skin."

If you were to compare Sirius from a mere half hour ago to this one, he would be unrecognizable. That Sirius was cheerfully, flirtatious, cheeky and mischievous. But this Sirius was dark, humorous and for once serious. Hermione could feel his magic flowing off of him in waves. It was a happy, yet powerful aura.

"You dare insult the cunning house of Slytherin!" Avery snarled at Sirius, throwing him ice cold glares before whipping out his wand. But after a quick look at Nott, who gingerly shook his head 'no', Avery unwillingly put it away and continued glaring at the Gryffindor, who remained unaffected by the Slytherin's actions.

"If I wanted to duel you, I could have easily challenged you. And if you think I take it a pleasure of coming down to the dungeons to chitter chatter with you snakes, please. I do not find any of your company comforting, or should I say even mildly enjoyable." Sirius drawled, rolling his eyes and moving his body pressure to his left foot. Then he ran his fingers through his hair and continued airily. "Anyways, I came down to discuss my brother."

Avery and Nott exchanged a dubious look, which caused Sirius to narrow his eyes suspiciously. The Slytherins turned back to him with vacant expressions crossing their faces. "What about him?"

"It has been brought to my attention by various sources that you're trying to push my brother into joining one of your many… Groups, if you want to call it that." Before Sirius could continue, Avery cut him off rudely.

"It's an option for the older Slytherins." He sneered surly, simply turning this into a dirtier and dirtier typical Slytherin-Gryffindor conversation.

"But I for one do not understand why you force him into going." Sirius bit back, angrily. "If you're so enamoured with your charming little group, don't you dare involve Regulus into it. He's not a toy meant to be played with, and you're not his puppeteer. If he wants to join it, which I'm sure he doesn't, he will."

His words echoed across the hall, for a long while, as the two boys processed everything they were just told. "What if he's already joined? What will you and your little huddle of nasty Gryffindors do?" Avery spat, with a venomous look in his eye.

"He hasn't, and it will remain that way." Sirius replied sternly, almost sounding as strict as McGonagall. His calm voice was overcome by a deadly tone.

The Slytherins remained quiet at his reply. None of the three boys moved, as their stare-down once again began, but Sirius was sure to get his point across to them, because a true Marauder, especially a Black, completed his promises and finished his deeds till the very end, even if there were thousands of treacherous and dangerous obstacles in the way. Two badly trained Slytherins were no obstacle.

"If I hear one more time that you have been consulting with my brother about this gang of yours—actually, if you even mention it to him, beware of me. You'll be gone as far away from this school as possible. Some might say that it was some bewildered animal in the Forbidden Forest, but only some will know the truth." Sirius threatened coldly and sharply, his eyes darting between the two of them. "Tell your Slytherin friends about this, and let this be a final warning to your little gang."

And with his final cold words, Sirius turned around and strutted off, away from the Slytherins, carrying his threatening warning about his little brother. Hermione and Luna ducked and slid further into the shadows, as their Gryffindor friend passed by, but he was probably too deep in his own thoughts to pay attention to moving shadows.

Hermione looked back and Luna and raised her eyebrows. Luna nodded and mouthed, "_Let's get out of here._" Just as Hermione nodded in agreement, heard the two Slytherins start to discuss Sirius. She tugged on Luna's sleeve with a pleading look, and nodded her head towards the two Slytherins. Luna didn't seem to agree with the idea. Nevertheless, she pursed her lips, sighed and backed behind Hermione.

Whenever she went on missions, voyages and dangerous adventures, she liked to hear everything and know as more as possible. Maybe this was one of her flaws, because there was a feeling haunting her that someday she would get killed while gathering information. _Not if you be careful_. A voice in her head reminded her.

The two girls shifted in the dark, and moved deeper in so that they couldn't see the Slytherins and the Slytherins wouldn't be able to spot them. All they heard was a series of voices and sounds.

"The nerve of that Black." Avery grumbled, as a series of clangs proceeded after his sentence, meaning that he most likely either kicked or pushed a suit of armour, which fell apart and was now lying scattered on the cold floor.

"Has our Black joined the forces yet?"

"Not yet. Some members have been trying to encourage him to join, but he hasn't agreed yet."

"Blacks are usually like that."

"Both of them would've been such a useful asset to the Dark Lord. Pity one of them is a Gryffindor." Hermione quickly noted that Slytherins knew all about Sirius, and probably James and Remus and slightly respected their strengths and powers. Even thought they would never admit it to a living, dying or even deceased soul.

"And a nasty one he is indeed. Always the center of attention, and always begging for attention when he doesn't have it." There was a tinge of jealousy in Nott's voice, as they continued heading towards Hermione and Luna's hiding spot.

"Girls usually love him." Avery noted dully.

"Even our girls, which makes the truth even more unfortunate. And they have their own Black in Slytherin house. There are multiple eligible candidates, who don't run around with their friends and don't create mayhem."

"There are some girls not infatuated with them."

"Like who? Would you be ever so kind to inform me of these ladies?"

"Unfortunately they're not in our house: Evergreen, Thorn, and White."

"Don't forget Evans."

"Yes, but if it might've escaped your attention, Nott, Evans is a filthy mudblood. Even if she does resist Potter's charms and is slightly handsome herself, it doesn't mean that you must go consorting about her. Imagine what Lucius and the Dark Lord would say."

"Aye, I'd be on the floor by a crucio in a matter of seconds." Nott agreed grimly, as the two continued walking with a gapping silence.

"You're right. Did you see how badly Flint got caught up for missing our start-of-term meeting because he was engaged in a er—disgusting exchange of saliva with Bulstrode? Couldn't walk properly for a week, plus he got a hard time with his wife. Must've hurt."

"Probably hurt more for his wife though."

"It _was_ an arranged marriage, but it was quite unacceptable for Bulstrode to throw herself at him. It was low."

"Well, my betrothed is currently in Beauxbatons**."** Nott informed his companion, as Hermione and Luna shared a look. Arranged marriages seemed to be a common engagement. But it was evident that purebloods wanted to save their status.

"Mine is in Drumstrang."

"So we have to admit that we are lucky. No rumours or social spills will reach them."

"I agree."

Once again there was a looming silence and a slight tension.

"There are some Slytherins who are currently in relationships. Which do not include the arranged marriages." Nott added to the mix of arguments.

"Barely." Avery snorted

"There are some."

"Like who? Snape and his deranged lunatic?" During this time, the two boys were just about to pass by their hiding spot.

"Yes but—"

"She's mental: if you ask me, a sheer embarrassment to purebloods."

Hermione felt Luna heating up, as her anger rose over the top. Her hand was firmly on her wand, which she was about to draw, and was probably hoping to leave a few nasty scars on Avery's face, but Hermione gripped her robe with one hand and with the other, clasped her hand over her friend's mouth.

But the sharp intake of breath didn't go by unnoticed by the two Slytherins, who were already past them and twirled around, wands drawn.

Hermione's heart was beating. She didn't want to end up in such a sticky situation. They would probably get cursed and obliviated. Maybe even worse. No one knew what those Slytherins were up to. The two girls could always run, but they would be on the list of suspicious being for the Slytherins, and no one wanted to be on that list. While Hermione's mind was mulling over possible situations, a light tapping noise sounded from down the hall. The footsteps were light, like a rat's and careful too.

It was the one person they were initially following.

"About time you showed up, Pettigrew." Avery grunted, shoving his wand back into his robes, obviously. "If you showed up any earlier, you would've had a delightful conversation with one of your roommates, and best friends."

Hermione was still tightly holding on to Luna, so that no animalistic impulses would come upon her. Who knew? She might've jumped out of place and attacked everyone in the hallway, Pettigrew included.

Avery already walked past, and in Pettigrew's direction, but Nott was not seen yet. A high tingling suspicion in her spine, told her that Nott was the careful, cunning one out of the group and that he wouldn't leave anything unchecked. Blasted Slytherins. She released Luna's robes out of her tight grip, hoping that she wouldn't do anything stupid and would return to her right mind, and cast a disillusionment charm on the two of them. Then she once again clasped her hand over her friend's mouth. And just in time too.

Moments after she cast the spell, the looming shadow of Nott approached their corner. He muttered "Lumos", as the tip of his wand lit up, showing him to where Hermione and Luna had just disappeared to. Hermione bit down on her fist and closed her eyes, as he approached closer and closer, his dark eyes boring into the spot on the wall where Hermione's head was located. He was scarier than Mrs. Norris for sure – it was like he could see past the charm.

"What are you looking for, Nott? Gryffindors and mudbloods?" Avery called from a couple of meters away. Hermione went completely rigid and felt Luna tense up beside her.

"I think something's here."

"And I think that you're hallucinating. You need rest. We have a long week ahead of us." After a moment of silence, during which Nott continued staring at the wall, Avery added on. "I'd suggest you go to bed, or help me with Pettigrew here."

With one final glance and a swipe of his wand, Nott, still unconvinced turned around and, shaking his head, followed his Slytherin friend towards the cowardly Gryffindor.

Hermione didn't realize that she was still gripping Luna's mouth, and hoped that she didn't (a) cut off her circulation or (b) cut off her air supply. Other than that, everything would be fine, especially the fact that they were alive and unharmed.

Now that they had a good eighty percent chance of survival Hermione relaxed a bit, closed her and started listening to the intriguing conversation going on.

"So, you've decided to join our forces Pettigrew?" Nott asked Peter slowly.

"Yes, I—I suppose I have, Avery." Pettigrew stuttered quietly and unsurely.

"Well isn't this a surprise? A Gryffindor joining the Death Eaters? What's next? The Dark Lord drinking unicorn blood?" Avery barked loudly, and Hermione felt the disapproving look Nott was giving to his friend.

"Avery, you must know not to speak of him like that. His punishments are harsh – we've discussed this." Nott growled lowly, and Avery tipped his head.

"My mistake. I mustn't have forgotten the respect we must pay to our Lord." At this point, Peter Pettigrew made a devastated squeaking sound, which did not go by ignored by the Slytherins who sneered at the cowering Gryffindor.

"You must known about these punishments, Mr. Pettigrew, especially since you _did_ attend a great portion of the meetings held in sixth year. This must not be a surprise to you."

"Yes, Mr. Nott. I do remember." Peter gulped. It seemed that having control over a stuttering Gryffindor was giving the Slytherins pleasure, especially since their slight conflict with Sirius Black a few minutes prior to this.

Hermione raised her eyebrows. She knew that Peter was working for the Death Eaters and with the Slytherins for quite a while in seventh year, but not in sixth! If he started with them at least half a year ago, he would've been relaying extremely valuable information by now! This had to be stopped, and as much as she wanted to, deep inside Hermione Granger knew that turning Peter Pettigrew back to the Light was slim to impossible.

If she was her past self, she would've done anything to save Peter Pettigrew, even if it meant sacrificing anything close to her. But this was the irreversible life, and they had a new goal set ahead of them. What could she say? Old habits die hard.

There was an eerie silence once again. Nott was still tense, as he kept on glancing who where Hermione and Luna were situated, and it made Hermione shift in her spot anxiously. She did not like the feeling of this. They probably should've left when they had the chance, and that was probably the reason why Luna's eyes were burning a hole in Hermione's scalp.

"Then if you have so kindly agreed, Pettigrew, we shall proceed to talk about this matter in the Slytherin Common Room." Nott stated firmly, as Hermione grit her teeth and cursed mentally.

"I'll be more than honoured. I am born to serve the Dark Lord." Pettigrew uttered lowly, and confidently, which made Hermione cringe at the voice.

"Good."

At this moment, Luna was frantically pulling Hermione out from her little corner. She pulled her along, still keeping against the wall, and crawling around various obstacles – a torch, a suit of armour.

Avery nodded for Pettigrew to head to on (opposite direction of which Hermione and Luna crawled) to the Slytherin Common Room. Peter took small unconfident steps, which defined that he wasn't sure if he really wanted to do it, but with his head bowed down, he treaded in that direction with Avery at his side. Avery was strolling as if it was the best day of his life – his arrogance defined his walk, as he believed that they had successfully converted a Gryffindor into a Slytherin.

Nott watched them walk away and disappear out of sight. When not even their footsteps were heard, he drew his wand and walked towards that blasted spot which set his senses tingling. With a determined poise, he pointed his wand at the long corridor and flicked it, his dark eyes narrowing, "_Homenum Revelio._"

His magic burst out of his wand, at the clear wave passed through the hall. The wave came back negative.

Nott scratched his head and shook it. "Maybe I do need some rest."

~OoOoO~

Hermione and Luna ran for it when they were out of sight. Both knew from the determination in Nott's eyes that he would return and confirm that there was no one listening to their conversation. The two girls kept on running until they were out of breath, but the only thing circling their minds at that moment was the same word repeated over and over again: traitor, traitor, traitor, traitor.

It was too late. There was no other way to get Peter back. If they were to get him back, they would have to spend more time with him, obliviate him and have him under the Imperius curse the whole time. No one had time for that.

They had finally stopped just outside the Great Hall to catch their breaths. Both were bending over and breathing heavily. It wasn't that they didn't have enough stamina, but it was the fact that they had just found out that Peter was actually soon to be a Death Eater. They had to figure out a way to inform the rest of the Marauders without letting them know how the information was discovered.

It was difficult.

Also, even though they didn't find out what exactly Peter and the others were to talk about, they found out that Sirius still did care for his brother. It was wonderful, because after all these years, Sirius still remained the loyal and caring brother that he was. The gesture he made was heart-warming and brought hope for the survival of Regulus.

Now that those details were settled, Hermione and Luna confirmed that Nott was one of the wittier Slytherins. He faced Remus in the duel in the beginning of the year, and it was seen that he wasn't the best, but he had a strong gut feeling. It was irritating that someone from Slytherin out of the Death Eaters had a brain, but the girls both decided that they needed to be careful around that one.

Right about then, Hermione had an odd premonition that Luna was angry at her. Her eyebrows were curved angrily, her lip stuck out a bit and her eyes were blazing. Yep, she was definitely unhappy. Hermione just wished that she wouldn't get the idea of using her wand.

"Was that adventurous for you? Dangerous enough? Did you hear what you wanted to?" Luna glared at Hermione in a way that sent her skin crawling. The brunette raised her arms in defeat, and hung her head, because she knew that she was going to get scolded, but sometimes this tug from adventure was too much. She was always careful, but she was slightly… Impulsive during and after the war.

"Slytherins aren't idiots, you know." Luna informed her slowly, as if to a child. Hermione couldn't help it but let the corner of her lips twitch. "Well, most of them." Luna rolled her eyes, and just as it seemed like she went back to her normal self, she turned her eyes back to Hermione. "Did you see Nott? He would've killed us if we didn't run away!"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did." Hermione said cautiously, looking around as if Nott was standing right around the corner, then she shoved the Marauder's map into her pocket. "Creepy he is, that one. I'm still all jumpy from it."

"Same with me." Luna agreed, as she nodded her head. "I know what they're capable of. And honestly, it's dangerous. You should be more careful."

Hermione pouted and started whining, "I _am_ careful, Luna! It was just this one—"

"Going on a midnight adventure are we?" The voice caught both Hermione and Luna by surprise, as the two of them leaped up and drew their wands, already in dueling position. When Hermione realized who it was (as if she hadn't known by the voice), she put her hand on her chest, trying to calm her heart down.

"Bloody hell, Sirius, why do you have to scare us like that?" She exhaled deeply, fanning herself with her hand, for he did give her quite a scare.

Sirius was leaning on the tapestry on the wall and was smirking at the two girls. His face was perfect, as always, and there was no sign of mark of the anger or aggression he had shown towards the Slytherins. This was the lovable, romantic Sirius again.

"'Bloody hell'?" Luna laughed airily, shaking her head in disbelief. "I haven't heard that one since we saw Ron last. You really rubbed off of him Hermione." Luna smirked, as Sirius drew a confused expression and Hermione flushed red all over at the mention of Ron. She loved Ron as a best friend, and she did admit that after spending such a long time with him, her cussing vocabulary had increased by more than a hundred percent.

"Anyways, yes, of course, we're going on a late night adventure Sirius." Hermione rolled her eyes and drawled sarcastically, twirling her wand in her hand and tapping her foot. "Want to go us?" She suggested innocently, as Sirius' face lit up in mischief.

"Of course I do! What a bore it would've been for you two ladies to go alone." He looked from Luna to Hermione, and his eyebrow raised curiously, and he skipped around the hall, before getting up on his knees in front of Hermione, whose face was still red, and was reddening more than before. She could see Luna's amused expression out of the corner of her eye. Moreover, she could feel her knowing smirk.

One part of Hermione was extremely confused and was snorting at Sirius' antics, but the other was blushing and hyperventilating. Something on the basis of: _Oh Merlin, he's touching my hand, he's so beautiful, his hands are so calloused but they're so perfect with mine._ It was like Lavender Brown had somehow invaded her brain and was taking control of all her thoughts.

"Now, where are we going? What is our heading, love?" Sirius peered up at her with his silvery eyes shining with mirth in a way that made Hermione giggle and blush until she died, but on the outside she restrained herself and limited it so an amused expression. "Astronomy tower? Forbidden Forest? I am also quite familiar with multiple extremely interesting broom closets situated all over the school."

Hermione's jaw unhinged, and her face reddened even more, if it was possible, as Sirius' smirk widened.

"Right, ahem," someone snorted, as it had just slipped their minds that they weren't alone. Luna raised her eyebrows and blinked, while shaking her head, knowing that this was the time to make a finale. "I'll leave you two love birds here. Maybe I'll go find some Nargles to hunt. They're all over the Defense Against the Dark Arts hall… Which is strange…" She noted thoughtfully. "Anyways, have fun with your er—activities." She smirked and then skipped away, blond hair swishing back and forth on her back.

Hermione looked back at Sirius, who was still on his knees in front of her. "Well, love? Your answer will be the only one that will leave the way."

"You're hilarious, Sirius, darling." Hermione drawled, rolling her eyes, patting his cheek and turning around. She planned to walk away, but only when she started walking did she realize that the passage she took wouldn't go anywhere and would lead to a series of classrooms and nothing of mild significance.

If a part of her brain was hoping that Sirius would spare her the embarrassment and wouldn't follow her, she was deeply mistaken. Moments after she left, she heard quick footsteps behind her and felt Sirius' hand brush up against her. Nevertheless, Hermione continued walking and ignored him until suddenly, she felt his fingers entwine with hers.

"Where are you going, Mione?" He asked her with an amused tone to his voice. Hermione turned around, glared at him, then their hands, and wriggled her fingers out of his grasp.

"To the kitchens." She said simply, sticking her nose up, as she continued her way down the hall without turning around. She knew Sirius was still walking beside her, but she didn't bother to turn around.

"Look at you, Hermione White. Two months at Hogwarts and you already know about the kitchens." He applauded her with a small laugh.

Hermione smirked, knowingly and prepared to make a witty comment, "Well I do have very, _very_ excellent and resourceful friends, who help me in any way." She declared serenely, as she turned the corner.

"Alas, Ms. White. Very helpful friends you have." Sirius exclaimed, with a dramatic spin to his voice, which made Hermione to snort lightly at his tone. Suddenly, she felt his hot breath right beside her ear. He tucked away a loose strand of hair and whispered huskily, "Pity you left the kitchen on the other side of the school."

Hermione whipped around, and shamefully noticed that Sirius was right! She wanted to walk away with such a haste, she didn't even care where she was going, and the kitchen was located on the other side of the school. _STUPID!_ She scolded herself. Sirius was standing there smirking as he stroked his chin tentatively, probably quite anxious to what the young witch was planning to do next, because the expression on Hermione's face was probably beyond priceless.

_Keep calm, Hermione. Keep calm._ She convinced herself and regained her composure, as she quickly shut her mouth, shook up her head and put on a vacant expression.

"Did I now?" She asked, pretending to be intrigued. Unfortunately for her, she was quite a bad actor. She cleared her throat awkwardly and sighed, "Goodness gracious, I do get lost quite often in this school. You can't expect me to know the school off by heart after only two months, can you Mr. Black?" She asked his, elegantly raising her brows.

"Of course not, Ms. White." Sirius bowed his head in a gentlemanly fashion and added gallantly. "It would be preposterous for me to believe that you would know every corner of the school, especially one which is unknown to a great portion of even the most exquisitely experienced senior population of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Sirius finished his sentence with a mock-aristocratic bow and brought her hand up to his lips. He kept his eyes on her the whole time; his happy silvery orbs dancing in the dim light. Because of the whole nerve-racking adventure she and Luna had gone through previously, her hand was as cold as ice cold, in comparison to his perfect soft lips.

For some reason at that moment she didn't care how many girls he had courted and snogged before that. This moment was so perfect; her heart got caught in her throat.

Her heart was beating ecstatically, and she wanted to do anything to cover the blush creeping up from her neck. Only then did Hermione notice how close the two of them were standing.

There was literally a foot in between them. He put her hand down, but he didn't let go. Hermione cautiously peered into his joyful eyes, and she felt a smile tugging at the corner of her lip.

Before she knew what was happening, Sirius' vacant hand reached and tipped her chin up, as he lowered himself closer towards here. There were a mere two inches between their lips, and they could feel each others' warm breath: the passion was over flowing. Butterflies were fluttering up and down in Hermione's stomach as her chocolate brown eyes gazed deeply into his silvery ones.

It was a challenge of who would last longest, and just when the passion and heat became overwhelming, Sirius closed his eyes and leaned in to close the remaining space. Hermione's head was spinning, and her eyes fluttered closed, and right when his lips barely brushed up against hers, an annoying shrieking noise killed the moment.

"Ickle Gryffindors out for a midnight stroll?" Hermione and Sirius jumped apart, just to see Peeves the Poltergeist sneering and couple meters away from them. He somersaulted in the air and cackled evilly. "Wait till old Filchy and Mrs. Norrisy hear about this!" He jeered, while zooming off somewhere into the school, no doubt hollering at the top of his lungs.

Hermione didn't have time to process what just happened, and before she knew it, the two of them were sprinting down the hall, as far away from Peeves as possible.

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**Thank you for reading!**

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**GirlxMarauder**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hello, dearest readers! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter… yet *snickers and runs away***

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"**Don't wanna let you down, but I am hell-bound, though this is all for you, don't wanna hide the truth; no matter what we breed, we still are made of greed, this is my kingdom come, this is my kingdom come." Demons (Imagine Dragons)**

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Chapter 23

Precisely the next ten minutes consisted of running, looking over their backs, and diving into corners because of any minimal noise emitted from the sketchy and dark parts of the castle. Not once did Sirius search or retrieve the Marauder's Map. Maybe he didn't have it, or maybe he didn't trust Hermione enough with the big Marauder secret. The second option was probably the better assumption, since it was the key of their success. Hermione doubted that even Lily knew about it, or else she would've confiscated it the moment she'd lay her eyes on it.

In comparison to the near encounter with Nott, Hermione felt like she was running freely through a meadow of flowers. It was tiring, but extremely exciting. It seemed that some of the adrenaline from her earlier voyage hadn't run out, since she felt like running faster and faster. But to think that she nearly kissed—no. That Sirius Black nearly kissed her, brought up so many mixed emotions.

Soon enough, the door to the kitchens was in view, and with one final glance from side to side, Sirius tickled the pear and the door swung open.

"You do this often?" Hermione asked disapprovingly, clutching her sides as she walked into the small room. The glare she tried to send his way was taken with a nonchalant cool flick of his hair.

"What exactly? Nearly snogging girls or running away from Peeves the Poltergeist?" Sirius rolled his eyes, while slumping down into a chair.

Hermione looked at him in an entertained matter, and sat down in her own chair. "I was thinking more along the lines of sneaking into the kitchens, actually." She snorted, while flipping a messy lock of brown hair.

"Well my answer honestly depends on whether or not you want a truthful answer, or a complete lie." Sirius commented pointedly, not opening his eyes, as Hermione raised her eyebrows and laughed amusedly.

"I think that I'd probably prefer the truthful answer, if that wouldn't hurt a tad, actually."

"Let's say then that I came every couple of days." Sirius opened his eyes and glanced at Hermione innocently, indigenously waiting for a reaction, although he wasn't sure himself what reaction he was awaiting.

"Is the food that is served in the Great Hall inadequately prepared for Mr. Black, supreme pureblood and Marauder extraordinaire?" Hermione asked dryly. She crossed her legs and slumped on one arm, while awaiting a witty answer to come out of the Marauder's mouth, which she was sure would come. Sirius took any opportunity possible to point out that he was gallant and possible one of the post important personas in the school.

"You can't forget ladies man." Sirius interjected pointedly, although a grin crossed his face and he looked towards the ceiling in deep thought. "I am quite good with the ladies. Wouldn't you agree, Mitzi?"

Hermione opened her mouth to protest, after thinking that 'Mitzi' was a silly nickname Sirius made up on the spot for her, even though 'Mitzi' wasn't even close to 'Mione' or 'Hermione' even more so. Before a sound could come out of her mouth, she realized that Sirius was glancing behind him and a house elf cautiously approached him.

"Whatever Mister Black says, sir." Mitzi mumbled, while tip toeing over to Sirius' side. "Would Mister and Missus like something?" he looked over to Hermione with his tennis ball eyes wide open. Even though house elves usually resembled each other, for some reason Mitzy resembled Dobby greatly: maybe they were somehow related.

After realizing that she was staring at the already insecure elf for quite a long time, Sirius raised his eyebrows and cleared his throat. "Er—Mione, would you like anything?"

"What?" Hermione snapped out of her thoughts, redirecting her eyes to Sirius. "Oh, no. I'm fine." She assured airily, as Sirius looked at her, unconvinced.

"Weren't you the one in the first place who told me that you were going to the kitchens?" He eyed her closely, his grey orbs gazing deep into hers, with such a penetrating force, she was sure she would fall into a coma from them.

"Well, I guess I'm just not hungry anymore."

After looking Hermione deep in the eyes for several moments and replaying her simple yet illogical answer, Sirius shrugged his shoulders, once again convincing himself that he would never in his life fully understand girls, and turned to Mitzy.

"Paradox." He mumbled thoughtfully, while scratching his head and tapping the arm of his chair unconciously, "I'll have a Firewhisky, Mitzy."

"Sirius!" Hermione snapped at him, as he looked at her nonchalantly and added seriously.

"You want one too?" A smirk was curling on his lips, as Hermione's jaw unhinged. Somehow he just knew how to shock her all the time, and no matter the situation, her jaw would always be left hanging.

"No I do not!" She exclaimed, incredulously smacking the back of his neck. "You're not allowed alcohol in school!" Her inner Head Girl was acting up and Sirius noticed that as well, as he rubbed his head.

"Geez, woman, you're worse than Lily." He muttered, avoiding eye contact with her, because another sharp glance of her innocent, yet knowledgeable chocolate brown eyes, would send him off his rockers, even though he was already mad.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Hermione replied coolly, and Sirius exhaled deeply with a small groan and looked back at Mitzy, who was still standing on his previous spot, only his face obtained a vividly confused expression.

"I'll have a butterbeer, Mitzy." Before Hermione could open her mouth to protest again, Sirius ushered the house elf quietly and verbally intercepted her. "But you can't resist a butterbeer. You don't even get tipsy from butterbeers. The most they do is make you hobble and that's only when you drink too much. No hard done, see?" Sirius gestured to himself, as Hermione inhaled sharply and sunk back in her seat, finally giving up on the despicably arrogant boy.

After a long moment of silence, during which Hermione was trying not to snap, and Sirius was trying to make eye contact, the boy couldn't stand it anymore. "You're on top of the ball already."

Hermione glanced at him sideways and rubbed her hands together. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," He looked over at her curiously, and paused for a few seconds, containing the pressure, "That you've been here for only one month—"

"Two months." Hermione pointed out, and nodded hotly, as Sirius narrowed his eyes at her. The expression, which was hopefully not serious, was something on the basis of 'you did not just interrupt Sirius Black'.

"What did you say?" He asked her with a slight attitude, which Hermione didn't completely understand, yet she maintained a confident expression and didn't drop her nose.

"I've actually been here for two months." She repeated clearly, but Sirius waved his hands and made a smacking noise with his lips.

"It's the same thing." He stated nonchalantly, eager to continue his rant, or whatever he was planning. Hermione honestly hoped that he didn't guess anything about the time travel. Logically speaking, without maximally insulting Sirius' intelligence, if the careless and love struck Marauder could figure out the deal, which he most definitely wouldn't, there was something wrong with the situation and many other would find out.

Thankfully, if anyone tried to do background research, the Founders had covered everything, ranging from furniture to memories. But there was always a gut feeling, and Hermione wasn't sure if the Founders were able to tamper with other peoples' emotions, in order to set things right. Probably not though. That would be way over the top of the laws of time travel and human respect overall.

"What I mean is that you have been here for a short period of time. Yet for some reason, you already know your way perfectly around the school, you have become best friends with Lily Evans, Head Girl, who is usually," he leaned over sneakily and stage-whispered, "as some acquaintances have found out, impossible to crack to show her true personality."

Hermione snorted, and looked at him sternly, but sweetly. "Maybe I'm just that type of person – sweet, lovable and open, so everyone wants to be friends with me." She raised her eyebrows innocently, as Sirius blinked a number of times and shook his head ignorantly.

"Not trying to insult your very strong personality, Ms. White, but you are anything but lovable to me." He argued, glaring at her slightly, as she laughed again.

"I am sweet to you!"

"You are not!" he bit back playfully, "Any time I try to talk to you, you always bombard me with insults and witty comments. When I smile at you, you roll your eyes or snort and look away, which, to be honest, irks me to a certain point."

"Is that so?" Hermione asked, with an intrigued tone in her voice.

Sirius nodded and continued quickly, so deep intrigued by his own words, he didn't even realize that another house elf was standing by him with a butterbeer. She was just about to point out, when Sirius' mouth opened and he continued ranting. "Whenever I wink or smile at other girls, they laugh, blush, redden, flush crimson, get flabbergasted by anxiety and excitement from my extremely good looks, whereas you… just don't." He let his arms fall limply, as he stared at her unknowingly, "You're so different from them. You're just another mystery I have to solve." Sirius uttered, almost lovingly, as his eyes sparkled with mirth and deep thoughts.

"Well," Hermione laughed, and dropped her head, before continuing, "I guess I'll take that as a compliment." She smacked her lips and smiled happily at him. "I doubt there are other girls who irritate and frustrate _the_ Sirius Black this was, so I believe that makes me unique."

"No." Sirius stopped her seriously, as Hermione's heart dropped to the floor. It was a feeling of utter confusion and sadness. "You're special." He told her, looking her straight in her eyes. At that moment, she felt like someone took the breath out of her throat, because as she opened her mouth, no words came out.

The awkward moment was interrupted, thank Merlin, my Mitzi, who accidentally sneezed, almost dropping Sirius' butterbeer on the ground, but snapped his fingers hurriedly, and it floated up to the Marauder.

"Swift catch, Mitzi." He commentated, impressed, nodding his head. "Your agility has improved since James last tried to throw a pie at my face, because he was hammered to hard after being rejected by Lily after he interrupted her visit to Madam Puddifoot's with some Hufflepuff lad. My face was all covered in it. Merlin knows how long it took me to get all the crumbs out of my hair." He added as an afterthought causing Hermione to stifle a giggle. "Do you remember that, Mitzi?"

"Y-y-yes, Mister Black. Mitzi is very sorry for Mr. Potter's abnormal behavior and the extreme accuracy of his throw. Mitzi apologizes." The elf bowed his head nearly to the floor, so his nose was nearly at Sirius' feet.

"Well, what to do Mitzi?" Sirius sighed somberly, "He is a chaser after all."

Hermione stared at Sirius appalled, with her mouth open, as she scowled and whispered loudly, "Are you out of your mind? You're actually letting him take the blame?" She snapped at him furiously, as Sirius regarded her with certain interest crossing his face: the look, which he had acquired numerous times that evening.

"You need to believe me that they won't take it any way. They're trained this way. That's how they live." He said firmly, with a slight understanding. "I would've thought that you saw that from the house elves in your manor." He regarded her with curiosity.

Hermione racked her brain. Shit. She forgot that purebloods loved to discuss their manors and brag about what they had and mourn about the little things they didn't have. It didn't mean that Sirius was one of the people who bragged, but it was probably a common pureblood habit to refer to manors and different homesteads and properties.

Evidently, a look of confusion, and possibly even distress crossed her face, and Sirius looked slightly pained, and reconciled. "I'm sorry." He bowed his head sincerely, as her head snapped up a bit in confusion, "I know it's hard for you to lose your relatives. I understand how you feel, and I shouldn't have brought this topic up. I'm sorry." He repeated once more, looked up with his puppy dog eyes, asking for forgiveness.

She caught herself in time and shook her head, looking another way. She tucked a stray curl behind her ear and cleared her throat. "It's alright." She said firmly. "You don't need to apologize: I'm pushing through it. But as a matter of fact, my family didn't necessarily like the way house elves were treated, so we didn't have any. If they needed someone's help, they called Uncle Alphie, if it were some chores, sometimes I had to do them." Hermione admitted, as a bunch of memories swam up in her mind, as she frantically skimmed through them.

"That doesn't sound pureblood at all." Sirius muttered confusedly, taking a swing at the butterbeer. But instead of being disgusted, he seemed quite interested and intrigued.

"Well," Hermione said rather protectively, straightening her back and rising in her seat, "Not every pureblood is necessarily stuck up and status obsessed." She snapped at him and for a moment she feared that she tampered and pulled a few fragile heartstrings, judging by the slightly pained look on his face.

Sirius went through a lot in his life. Hermione knew it. Everyone knew. If the girls didn't come back into the past, Sirius would be even more pained, worn out, and tampered with. He wouldn't know a proper and aristocratic life anymore. It seemed like it was a curse or a punishment following him around for rejecting the Black bloodline. The plentiful gossip, dreaded cousins, fiends, wars, arguments. Even the smallest things were extremely effective in this way.

"I'm sorry." She said, suddenly feeling guilty for her harsh words.

"Don't be." He answered almost immediately, yet quietly. He then took another swing at his butterbeer and downed it, plopping it down on the table. "I was wrong, I know it. I just wish I were different."

For some reason, Hermione felt her heart melt and turn into a little soap bubble. She felt so bad for the boy – he seemed too innocent to be a Marauder, which slightly made him look more like Regulus. "You are different, Sirius." She said softly, glancing at him, as their eyes met. He took his hand. "And different isn't a bad thing. It's a good thing. I'm different, you're different, and it's all for the best." She smiled sincerely, and she could see happiness starting to once again dance in his eyes.

But of course, all good moments had to come to an end, when another house elf entered the small kitchen and squeaked with excitement. Sirius turned around and Hermione unwillingly pulled her hand away from his. There was a female house elf standing beside Sirius and smiling up at him, eyes full of utter delight.

"Mister Black!" She squeaked, bowing, as Sirius chuckled.

"How are you, Soozie?"

"Soozie is good, Mister Black!"

"That's great." He smiled and looked back at Hermione, who was foolishly smiling at the scene. "Did you miss me, Soozie?" he redirected his attention back to the house elf.

"Oh yes, Mister Black! Very much so!" She exclaimed, jumping up and down, while looking around the room. "Did Mister Potter not like it here last time, Mister Black?" She asked curiously, but slightly sadly, and Hermione couldn't coo enough at how cute the scene was.

Sirius grimaced and looked up thoughtfully, "James had to finish something tonight. But I'm sure he'll stop by soon." Sirius reassured her, as Soozie smiled, and suddenly noticed Hermione's presence, and hopped over and bowed to her.

"Soozie is at Missus's services!" she exclaimed eagerly, as Sirius chuckled happily.

"Hermione, this is Soozie. She's the newest addition to Hogwarts' House Elves. She was originally with the Malfoy family," At this moment, Soozie looked up in extreme fear and covered her ears. Sirius frowned, then continued, "But she was released after accidentally spilling Mrs. Malfoy's tea on her front." He smirked, as Hermione couldn't restrain a gleeful giggle, but Soozie seemed terrified.

"Soozie didn't mean it, Missus Hermione! Soozie wanted best for her masters! But masters didn't like Soozie." The house elf shrunk down quite a bit, as Sirius stood up from his chair and leaned down.

He was on face to face level with the house elf, and stated seriously, "Don't be sad, Soozie. They were nothing but abusive and mean." He confirmed and added on with a giddy smile, "If you want, we can convince Lily Evans to come to the kitchens next time."

The house elf's eyes lit up with happiness as she bounded up immediately. "_The _Missus Lily Evans? The one Master Potter always talks about?!" She squeaked excitedly, as Sirius nodded, and she bowed humbly. "Soozie would be honoured to meet _the_ Missus Lily Evans!"

"Good." Sirius said firmly, finally looking over at Hermione, who was looking thoroughly impressed and proud of the Marauder. She also felt slightly jealous deep down, when she heard the passion with which Soozie the house elf talked about Lily Evans. She always wanted someone to talk about her the same way.

After a while of socializing, Hermione drew out her wand, flicked it and mumbled _"Tempus"_ as the time floated up in neon numbers in the air. It said "11:47". She gasped, and Sirius looked up at her immediately, just in case something was wrong. But when he saw the time, he just snorted and laughed at her.

"You think this is late?" He asked amusedly, as Hermione was taken aback. But what could she expect. It seemed like Marauders went to sleep late, slept like the dead and woke up late.

"Well it is quite a while after curfew." She argued in her defense, as he shrugged and stood up, offering her a hand, which she gladly took. They said their goodbyes to the elves and snuck out of the portrait hole.

They walked in silence, but it seemed like they were still talking just by being close to each other. It felt so right, but all Hermione knew was that Sirius would go back to his mischievous self the next day, which she didn't mind. But it was always interesting to observe and see the other side of a person.

Right when they turned the last turned and were on the finish line to the Gryffindor Tower, a shabby cat crossed their path.

"Bloody hell." Sirius muttered, pulling Hermione back, but when they turned around, they saw Filch on their path. If not Sirius's hand on hers, Hermione would've flipped and had a heart attack, because of the extreme resemblance of a typical muggle horror movie. All that was missing was the darkness and lightning.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Lurching around the halls after hours, are we?" Filch rasped in his sleazy voice, which sent shivers down Hermione's spine, but Sirius' hand was surprisingly extremely reassuring. "We'll see what the Head of your House will say about this." He smirked, as Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Or you could just ask the Head Boy." Sirius suggested, mischievously, but Filch, unfortunately, wasn't as unintelligent as some accounted him to be.

"Not so fast, Black. We'll take this to a detention on November 4th." Filch said, with a glint in his eye, which suggested that he loved torturing little children. "I will tell the Head of your House about this and she'll arrange everything. Pity they don't let me use the dungeon anymore, after that incident a couple years ago." He muttered, while stalking off in the opposite direction. "Come, my sweet."

The two Gryffindors shrugged and took the last two steps towards the Gryffindor Tower, even though Hermione was immensely unpleased that she had to spend her first ever detention. Nevertheless, she still commented sarcastically, "Pleasant fellow, isn't he?"

Sirius smirked and nodded, "Oh yes. Very much so. But it's the cat, Mrs. Norris, you have to look out for. She's the one doing the job, although no one knows how. And No one understand that strange bond they have. It's very strange. And she never seems to die, that's for sure." He commented inwardly, but Hermione caught his comment.

"Oh? How so?"

"_Fiendfyre flower_." Sirius said the password to the Gryffindor Tower, as the Fat Lady swung open. He stepped aside and gestured for Hermione to walk in first, as she kindly did. "You see, we've tried various things with James and Remus to get rid of that cat. No matter what we've tried, we don't succeed in anything!" He huffed exasperatedly.

Hermione laughed and shook her head disbelievingly, "A cat, ruining your plans? How embarrassing. And what have you done to it?"

"I believe," Sirius said thoughtfully, scratching his head and squinting into the distance, "We tried to drown her once. Set her on fire. Accidentally, of course." He looked at Hermione innocently, as she rolled her eyes. "You don't believe me? Mione, that hurts." Sirius touched his chest tenderly, causing Hermione to laugh again.

"You're impossible." She smiled at the floor.

"I admit, many have said that." He nodded happily. Hermione was about to retreat to her dormitories, when she felt him spin her around and gaze softly into her eyes, his grey eyes sparkling with joy. "Thank you. For giving me company this fine evening."

"No." Hermione said, without breaking eye contact. "Thank _you_." And with a small, but meaningful smile, they parted ways, both happy and ready for a deep sleep.

* * *

**Da da da daaaaa! Sorry if it was slightly short, but I tried (: I'm leaving for le cottage for the next couple days so I'm bound to get lots of work done there**

**I hope you review! Oh speaking of that…**

**I'm not really trying to be a prick or a mean person, but I haven't complained before, so it's a first. I know everyone reviews as much as they can, and that's great! But a review a while back got me thinking – I have 368 wonderful people following this story, But this number is a hundred more than reviews themselves. **

**I understand that we're all lazy, but it only takes a minute or two to leave a friendly review, your opinion, or some ideas! Because I love ideas! They inspire me to write more often and more in quantity. So please, I promise this is the only A/N this way, and I sincerely appreciate all the lovely readers who have been with me both from the start and from now on. I am very grateful for every single one of you supporting me here! ^.^**

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**GirlxMarauder**


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